


Violet Royale

by ShrugFace



Category: Persona 5, Persona 5 Royal, Persona Series
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Hugs, Love Confessions, Nsfw content, Persona 5 Spoilers, Persona 5: The Royal Spoilers, Retelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:00:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 36,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24229258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShrugFace/pseuds/ShrugFace
Summary: My own personal take on some of the major events/dates in Persona 5 Royal that feature Joker and Violet.Note: While this fanfic has a Mature rating, the first 5 chapters would be rated for General Audiences or Teen and Up Audiences. Chapter 6, 7, and 8 would be rated Mature or Explicit.
Relationships: Kitagawa Yusuke/Sakura Futaba, Persona 5 Protagonist/Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi, Sakamoto Ryuji/Takamaki Ann
Comments: 152
Kudos: 170





	1. Rank 9 Faith Confidant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After seeing a lack of Joker/Sumire fanfics on here (probably because most people aren't done with the game yet), I decided it was time to write my own.
> 
> This chapter will be the Rank 9 Faith Confidant from P5R, with a Ren that talks more (since the dialogue options in game aren't much). Of course there are spoilers.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Persona or any of the characters (obviously).
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading this chapter!

“Hey, Sumire,” Ren said as he approached the redhead in Kichijoji.

“Oh hello, Ren,” Sumire replied. “Is something the matter?”

“No, I just simply wanted to ask you if you wanted to hang out,” Ren stated, with a slight smile.

“H-Hang out!? But we have to do something before it’s too late...!” Sumire stated, stuttering a little.

“It’s fine, we have plenty of time, the Palace Route is almost mapped entirely, and everyone deserves a little break sometimes. Don’t overthink it,” Ren stated.

“You’re right. Maybe I’m getting a little overwhelmed... and I can’t do my best if I’m too stuck in my own head. Let’s use this day to relax, Senpai!” Sumire stated. “May I have a bit of your time?”

“It was my idea, Sumire,” Ren stated. “And besides, I always have time for you,” said Ren, showing a small smirk knowing that she was likely to get embarrassed by his statement.

Just like Ren predicted, Sumire blushed slightly, and with a smile of her own, quietly said, “Thank you so much... Senpai. Oh! But before we go, can we go to a place where we can have a quiet discussion? I need to tell you something.”

“Come over.”

“Wha-!? You want me to come over to your house Senpai? Umm, I don’t think I’m ready for that... or at least my heart is... Umm...” Sumire said loudly. She could feel her heart beating fast and could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks.

“I don’t have a house Sumire. I live in Leblanc, remember?” Ren clarified, unable to hold back a slight chuckle. _I wonder why she always acts so nervous around me though_ , _does she have a crush on me?_ Ren thought silently. However, he told himself that it was most likely not the case.

“Oh... I’m sorry I forgot Senpai! I’m such an idiot!” Sumire meekly said.

Before Sumire could chastise herself more, Ren replied, resting a hand on her shoulder, “You’re not an idiot, Sumire. You’re one of the smartest girls I know. Anyways, are you free to go?”

“Of course! Umm...If it’s okay I’ll head over to Leblanc,” Sumire said softly, still having some pink on her cheeks.

“Let’s go then,” Ren stated.

After the two high schoolers arrived at Leblanc, Ren was greeted by Sojiro.

“Oh, kid, you’re already bringing girls here? When I was young, hoo—”

“Boss, Sumire and I aren’t dating,” Ren clarified, letting out an embarrassed chuckle, while Sumire was covering her face (which was just as red as her hair) with her hands. “She just wanted to talk to me about something and I figured that we could talk here.”

“Oh, I see,” Sojiro said, but his tone showed that he didn’t fully believe Ren. “Well I will be closing shop early, so feel free to stay as long as you want.”

“I’ll be going out for a walk.” Morgana said, “Have fun, Ren!”

With that statement, Sojiro and Morgana both headed out of the cafe, leaving only Sumire and Ren left.

“Would you like some coffee?” Ren asked politely, “I can make some for the both of us.”

“Yes please!” Sumire said eagerly, “I would love to try some of your coffee.”

After the coffee was brewed, Ren was holding two cups of coffee, one for each of them. He gave one of them to Sumire.

“Thank you so much, Senpai! I hope it’s not too much trouble dropping in like this.”

“It’s no problem, Sumire. As I said before, I always have time for you,” Ren said, slightly flashing his Joker grin.

“Thank you. I just wanted to talk to you in person.” The redhead took the cup and smelled it. “It smells great!” Taking a sip, Sumire’s eyes widened at the taste of the well-brewed cup of coffee. “It’s really good. Something about it is relaxing.”

Ren smiled at the compliment. “The perfect cup of coffee for the perfect girl,” he said. However, almost instantaneously after he made the remark, he realized his mistake and began to apologize profusely. _Dammit, Ren! Why did you say that?_ Ren mentally chastised himself.

“...Thank you...” Sumire managed to slip out. Her face was bright red once again and her heart was beating fast. _He didn’t really mean that, did he? I kind of hope he did._ Sumire thought to herself.

“Anyways,” Sumire started, attempting to change the subject. “I think I’ll be ready to show Coach Hiraguchi my performance soon. And if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like you to be there when I do... Is that okay?”

“Definitely. Of course, I’ll come.”

“Great! I’m so glad… but that’s not what I came here to talk about. Do you remember what I said when we went clothes shopping?” Sumire asked, but before Ren could reply she answered herself. “I talked about wanting you to see me, and how that helped me stop worrying?”

“Yeah, I remember,” Ren said.

“I’m really glad,” the redhead said with a smile before suddenly looking at the ground. “I was thinking about Kasumi… I wondered how she must have felt. Thinking she didn’t want to lose to me, and wanting me to watch her… Maybe that’s what we had in common. We both wanted someone specific to see our efforts- to see us as we are. As long as we have that someone watching us, we can stay strong. So I finally realized something. I think part of Kasumi’s strength came from that… I was the one she was thinking of.” Sumire said, looking up once again. “I never heard her say it, but… maybe she’d trying to tell me through her performance.” Ren nodded along, but Sumire suddenly paused and said, “Haha… I can’t believe it took me this long to figure it out… I’m such an idiot.”

“No, you’re not. Sumire, you can’t expect yourself to understand everything in an instant.”

“I suppose you’re right. I’m glad I realized it, even if it’s only now. Even as worthless as I am, I hope I still managed to help Kasumi somehow.”

“I know you did, and I want to let you know that you’re not worthless.”

“Thank you, Senpai. I suppose I’d like to think that.” Sumire looked down with a frown once again. “Kasumi’s beyond any apologies I could give her. I can’t tell her how I feel, she’ll never see me perform. That’s reality, and it happened because of me. I’ve been running away from that for a long time.” Sumire paused again and looked up, but this time with a more unflinching gaze. “But I’m done running now. It’s time to stand on my own two feet. I want to live for both of us now, for the sake of everything we wanted. I want to grow even stronger. Even if I end up in tears from failing at a meet, or if the pressure’s too much for me sometimes, with Kasumi’s confidence and the grace she recognized in me, I’m going to keep moving up. I’m going to show Kasumi who Sumire Yoshizawa really is.”

“Wow, you have really changed since when we met at Maruki’s palace,” Ren noted. “I’m very proud of you, Sumire.”

“Thank you.”

“Um... and so...” Sumire said, suddenly blushing a little, “Now that I’m committed to, you know, not running away from my feelings... I, um... There’s something I need to tell you, Senpai!”

“Sumire, what do you need to tell me?” Ren said, suddenly confused as to why she was all of a sudden acting timid and nervous again. “Oh and go ahead, I’m not leaving anytime soon until you’re done.”

“Thank you, I just suddenly started getting nervous,” Sumire said. She could feel her pulse accelerating and continued. “Anyways, I realized that it was less a matter of showing off, and more of wanting someone to watch me... That is someone special to watch me. Someone I’d want to have eyes only for me. And I thought to myself, well for me, that person’s obviously Senpai! So I think that means... I’m in lo...l-l-l-lo...I’m in... lo...” Sumire couldn’t bring herself to finish her sentence, as her heart was beating too fast, her palms were sweaty, and her cheeks were getting more pink by the second.

“In luh?” Ren questioned. _Wait, is she in love with me?_ _Is that what she’s trying to say?_ Ren asked himself. He decided not to say anything yet, as he didn’t want to jump to conclusions and wanted to hear Sumire say it for herself.

After taking a final deep breath, Sumire said, “I..I’m in love with you! Um, but… the last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable, so…”

Ren took some time to ponder over her words. He realized that that explained many things that happened. For one, she was always blushing and nervous whenever she was around him, with their two previous meet-ups coming to mind. He also noticed her comment when they last hung out, with her wondering about “how she wants Senpai to see her.” As he thought about it some more, all of the hints she was giving were slowly being pieced together.

Sumire, on the other hand, was not faring so well. Her stomach was churning, and she was still getting more frightened as Ren continued not to say anything. _Dammit Sumire, why did you say that? Of course, he’s not going to fall for a mess-up like you—_

“I love you too.”

Sumire was shocked upon hearing those words. “Wha-what!? You...You love me back?”

Ren nodded.

“Oh, huh? S-so… I guess that means it’s mutual, then?” Sumire asked.

“Of course,” Ren said sheepishly, forming a small blush of his own. “I wasn’t kidding when I said that you were the perfect girl.”

Sumire couldn’t help but blush once again after that comment. “So, um… wh-what happens now? Wait, does that mean… you’ll be my boyfriend?!”

“Yes, what were you expecting?” Ren questioned. He himself was having a hard time keeping sane over all of her cute stutterings as she talked to him.

“W-well, um, I mean, I guess that’s what I’m hoping for? So… oh… what am I saying?”

“Woah, take it easy Sumire. Calm down,” Ren assured.

“S-sorry, I’m the one who confessed, and now I’m totally messing this up…”

Ren simply raised an eyebrow, confused as to why she thought that.

“Honestly? I never expected I’d get this far.” Sumire admitted. She took another deep breath before looking back at Ren. “Ren-senpai, would you… look at me for a moment?”

“Yep, what is it?”

“I want to know if… if it’ll feel any different, now that we’re…” _What are you saying Sumire?!_ Sumire tried to backpedal out of the situation. “Wow, I don’t know what I’m saying anymore…” She trailed off again with her cheeks coloring once again. “You know what, never mind…”

 _Nope, not going to happen,_ Ren thought to himself. He put his right hand on the table and leaned in until their faces were right in front of each other, showing off his Joker grin as he saw Sumire blush and lean back in shock.

“Eep. Umm...” Sumire began to say. However, Ren cut her off by leaning in even further, putting his left hand on the table as well.

“I-I-um-you _—_ ” Sumire began to say, but no words came out. She was sweating nervously and was starting to panic.

Ren, on the other hand, was having great fun making his now girlfriend extremely flustered. “You’re so red right now,” Ren said, “And adorably cute too.” He wasn’t lying when he said those words, Sumire became the reddest Ren thought anyone could ever be, and his own heart was beating quickly due to her cuteness as she was in her flustered state.

“Wha-” Sumire managed to say. Finally, at her breaking point, she stated, “I-I can’t take it… I feel like I’m melting…” After sitting normally again, “What do I do…? I’m so embarrassed, but… I want to be even closer to you, Ren-senpai.”

Ren, changing his mischievous grin into a more caring smile, stated: “Me too.”

“I love you, Ren-senpai. I’ll always want your eyes on me.”

“I love you, too, Sumire.”

As Ren leaned in for a kiss, Sumire stopped him. “I think our glasses will bump together if we get any closer.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Ren stated, first removing his own glasses, and then removing Sumire’s glasses. As he briefly stared into crimson eyes, Ren then gently grabbed the back of Sumire’s head and kissed her. As their lips met, Sumire could feel her own heartbeat racing once again. After a few seconds, they broke apart, with Sumire still having a red face and Ren trying to catch his breath.

“C-Can we do it again?” Sumire asked, “I mean... Umm...”

“You’re too cute for your own good,” Ren said, cutting her off and kissing her lips again. However, Leblanc’s door opened again, and in came Morgana.

“So, Ren, how was your time with Sumi— Oh, hi,” Morgana said awkwardly, as the couple suddenly noticed his presence and quite literally jumped away from each other.

“Oh, umm, Morgana, we weren’t expecting you to be back already,” Sumire stated, her face growing crimson.

“It’s been 30 minutes,” Morgana said. “Anyways, congratulations Ren! You finally stole Sumire’s heart!”

“Uhh yeah, about that Morgana,” Ren stated, “Can you keep that a secret? I don’t want to notify everyone else yet.”

“Oh yeah sure,” Morgana said, “Though I wouldn’t be surprised if Futaba knew already, considering she bugged the place. Anyways, Ren, wouldn’t it be cool if Lady Ann and I—”

“Oh yeah Morgana, I have to walk Sumire to the station now. See ya!” Ren said, leaving Leblanc with Sumire following afterward.

“Bye Mona!” Sumire said before she left as well, with Morgana being left alone in Leblanc.

“H-hey Ren, come back!” Morgana started, but gave up and instead chose to just wait for Ren until he came back.

Meanwhile, at the station, Sumire and Ren were walking side by side.

“Umm... Senpai? Can I ask you something?”

“Sure Sumi, was is it?”

“Sumi?” Sumire questioned.

“Yeah, I figured that since you call me Senpai all the time, Sumi could be your pet name,” Ren reasoned.

“Sumi... I like that Senpai! Anyways...” Sumire started. “Can... can we hold hands?”

“Sure Sumi, why not?” Ren replied, once again trying to stay mentally sane over Sumire’s cute blushing. As he took her hand, the new couple walked off to the station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this chapter!
> 
> Any criticism, whether positive or negative, will be appreciated (this is my first fanfic and I haven't really written anything so anything would be appreciated).
> 
> I don't know when this fic will be updated, might be tomorrow or it might be two weeks later, I haven't decided yet. I'll probably cover the Rank 10 Confidant next.


	2. Rank 10 Faith Confidant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will be the Rank 10 Faith Confidant from P5R. Also, there are spoilers.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Persona or any of the characters (obviously).
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading this chapter!

“Hey, Sumi,” Ren said as he approached his girlfriend in Kichijoji.

“Oh hello, Senpai,” Sumire replied. “Do you need something?”

“No, I was wondering if I could spend some more time with my girlfriend,” Ren stated, with a smile.

“H-Hang out!? And… girlfriend?! I- umm…” Sumire started.

“Don’t tell me you forgot already, Sumi,” Ren said, with a fake disappointed look on his face.

“O-oh right. It doesn’t make it any less embarrassing though.” Sumire said, with a small blush on her face. _I still can’t believe he said yes._

“You’re too cute for your own good.”

“Th-thanks. But shouldn’t we be working on stopping Maruki?”

“We’re fine. A day of hanging out with my adorable girlfriend isn’t going to kill us.”

“Al-alright then, if it’s okay with you. I was actually going to go and perform my routine for my coach right now. And I was hoping you could come and watch me, Ren-senpai. So, if you’ve got the time to spare on me, then please!”

“You already know I always have time for you, Sumi.”

“Th-thank you! Then let’s get ready and head over to the gymnasium!”

“Alright, let’s go!”

The couple headed over to the gym where Sumire was going to perform her routine for her coach. There, Ren was waiting for Sumire to come out of the changing room in her gymnastics outfit. As he was waiting, he got a call from Ryuji:

Call Started 

“Yo Ren-Ren, guess what happened today!”

“Yo, what’s up? What happened?”

“I got a girl!”

“You’re lying.”

“No seriously, I actually did it! You won’t believe who she is!”

“Alright then, who is it?”

“It’s Ann! We’ve been hanging out for a while now and then she all of a sudden asked me to come with her on the school rooftop and confessed to me!”

“Haha nice! Congrats, Ryuji! Don’t tell Morgana or you might not live to see the next day.”

“Damn that effin cat! He can go after me all he wants but I ain’t gonna give Ann to him. She chose me, not him, dammit!”

“You seem pretty confident, Ryuji. Just don’t rub it on his face. Actually, maybe you should do that, Morgana does need someone to keep his ego down sometimes.”

“Yeah I probably won’t do that. It’s bad enough for him that he got rejected over some ‘dumb blonde monkey’ like me. Anyways, that also means that I got a girl before you, Renren!”

Ren didn’t want to tell Ryuji of all people about his relationship with Sumire, since he was kind of a loudmouth. However, he didn’t want his best bro thinking that he got a girl before him. So, deciding to take the risk, Ren said:

“Actually, you’re the last boy out of our team to get a girl. Yusuke and Futaba are definitely together, no matter how much they try to hide it. And I already got a girl, although it was kind of recent, so you’re pretty close.”

“Really, man? Who is it?”

“It’s Sumire. I’m at the gym with her because she wants to show her routine with her coach.”

“I was kinda expecting you two to get together, but not really. I thought you would go after Makoto or Haru, but I guess it makes sense that you would go after her. It was pretty obvious that she had a crush on you, y’know?”

“I already knew about it, but I kinda wanted her to confess herself, you know, to gain confidence in herself and all that.”

“Oh I see, that’s actually pretty smart Ren. Anyways, I gotta go now, my mom wants me to help clean the house. See ya later, Renren!”

“Alright, see ya later. Sumire should be coming out anytime soon now. Oh, and can you try not to tell anyone about this?”

“No promises. Tell Sumire I said hi for her. See ya.”

“Later, Ryuji.”

Call Ended 

Right on time, Sumire exited the changing room doors and saw Ren ending the call with someone. When he turned to look at her, she noticed that he was staring at her with his mouth slightly open, which caused her to blush slightly and get embarrassed.

“Senpai? Is there something wrong?”

“Huh? Oh sorry Sumire, you’re just too beautiful and cute in that outfit. Although you look beautiful and cute in any outfit, just so you know.”

“O-oh, th-thanks Ren-senpai.” Sumire said, with a blush on her face. “Anyways, it seemed that you were on the phone with someone. Who was it?”

“Oh it was Ryuji. He says hi.”

“What did he call about? And how does he know that I’m with you?”

“Oh, nothing. He just wanted to call me about how he and Ann are finally a couple.”

“Oh, congratulations to him. Confronting Mona-senpai about this will be difficult, though. But what does that have to do with me?”

“He assumed that I’m still single, and there’s no way I’m letting him think that. So, I told him about us. I just hope he doesn’t say it to everyone else.”

“Y-You what? I-I don’t think I’ll be able to handle all the teasing from Futaba-chan if he tells everyone.”

“Well, based on his personality, he probably would. And as for Futaba, she has a crush on Yusuke anyways, so there’s revenge material right there. I would be surprised if they aren’t together already.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t know that. I still don’t know about the teasing part, though. You tease me enough.”

“Hey, you’re too cute when you’re embarrassed, and you’re too easy to tease. Plus, you’re my girlfriend now.”

“O-oh right, that happened. I’m still surprised I got that far.”

“Is it really too good to be true?”

“I suppose not. Anyways, I’m usually so nervous when Coach Hiraguchi watches my performance. Partially because she’s worked with me for so long-that’s why I don’t want to let her down...”

“You won’t, Sumire. You never let anyone down.”

“Thanks, Senpai. But actually, today… Today I’m excited about this.”

“You do look radiant today. But I can’t help but feel a little nervous.”

Sumire giggles. “It’s probably thanks to you feeling so nervous that I’m able to keep my composure.”

Suddenly, Coach Hiraguchi enters the room. Sumire turns to her and bows.

“Ah… Thank you for making time to observe me today!” Sumire starts.

“You got a good look on your face today, Sumire,” Coach Hiraguchi says.

“Yes ma’am. I’m confident in the routine I’m about to perform.”

“Well, at first glance, I’d say you look like you’ve got it all figured out-but! I’m here to gauge your performance, not just let you brag about it. Now begin.”

“Yes ma’am!”

Sumire is getting ready to start her gymnastics routine. However, Coach Hiraguchi notices something different this time.

“Even her starting form’s changed. Could this be your doing?” Coach Hiraguchi questions Ren.

“It’s all Sumire. I’m sure the performance will prove it.”

Coach Hiraguchi smiles. “You two are cute together. She has mentioned your name quite a lot when she practices lately. And I do remember seeing you once before.”

“Alright let’s start!” Sumire’s confident voice rings through the gym. As she does her leaps, twirls, hops, and spins with the blue ribbon, Ren can’t help but stare at the beautiful performance she puts on. After she finishes her performance, Sumire starts panting and is exhausted, but manages to still stand and give a confident look.

“Thank you for watching!” Sumire says, with a confident tone that Coach Hiraguchi notes.

“You’ve grown so much, Sumire. I’m sure this is no surprise to you, but the path to international success will be harsh and relentless. Are you ready?”

“Yes. Absolutely!” Sumire exclaims.

“I WILL be number one in the world of gymnastics! I will make our dream a reality!”

“Glad to hear you’re so sure. With your natural grace and dedication to reach the gauntlet, no matter how far it is from your grasp… Your dream is no longer impossible. And you’re the one who decided that, not me.”

“Huh?” Sumire says, confused by Coach Hiraguchi’s last statement.

“You didn’t even realize it, did you? Today’s the first time you’ve told me you will on an international level. Until today, you’d only say, ‘I hope I win.’”

“Oh!”

“Perhaps you even have someone special. The person who makes you want to dance just for them.” Coach Hiraguchi says with a smile.

“Well that’s… Um, I, uh…” Sumire stutters, her timid nature being presented with hints of pink on her cheeks.

“My, it seems you haven’t quite made a total transformation.” Coach Hiraguchi notes. However, it still doesn’t stop Sumire’s blushing.

“Calm down, Sumire. Don’t rush it.” Ren says, in hopes of calming her down.

“It’s good to hear you have someone who really understands you in your corner. Your performance today was truly impressive. I’m looking forward to your next lesson already.”

“Coach… Me too!” Sumire says. Upon hearing this, Coach Hiraguchi nods and leaves the gym, with only the couple left in the gym.

“Coach Hiraguchi… liked my routine.”

“I’m so relieved. Though, it wouldn’t be a surprise because it’s only natural, Sumire.” Ren compliments.

“Thank you Senpai! It’s like I finally found my footing… At least, that’s how I feel. Thanks to you, I feel like I’ve finally found the answer I’ve been searching for… as well as discovering what’s most important to me while performing.” Sumire can feel her blood rushing to her cheeks and her heart beating faster as she says this, but she doesn’t mind.

“What do you mean? Is it someone you love?” Ren questions, though he knows the answer to his questions.

“Do I really have to spell it out?” Sumire asks. She continues. “I’ve learned all sorts of things from my time with you… Now, I can show everyone how I really feel-and the two of us can take the crown of the gymnastics world!”

Right after this, Ren can hear the voice in his head when he maxes out a confidant. Both of them also can see her persona, Cendrillon, transform into Vanadis.

 _That totally looks like a female Arsene,_ Ren thinks.

Sumire confidently says, “This is the new me… I’ve finally found it!”

Some time passes, and Ren swears that he could see some sort of glow near Sumire’s heart. As he thinks about it, Sumire interrupts his thoughts.

“I know it’s a bit late, but… I can feel my body start to shake. I think it’s finally hitting me… I managed to really give it my best...”

“You were amazing out there,” compliments Ren. “Even though there’s more to come, I’m more than confident that you’ll be able to overcome them.”

“Really? Then I’m glad I pushed myself hard enough for you to see my best.” Sumire says, once again blushing. “Actually, Senpai? I have a favor to ask.”

“I’ll do anything for you,” Ren says, “What is it?”

“Umm… Will you hold me tight, like before?”

Ren proceeds to head over and hug Sumire tightly. However, he notices that her eyes start to widen when he goes over to hug her. But before he can ask what’s wrong, she speaks up first.

“Oh no, I thought this would stop my shaking, but now it feels like my heart’s about to burst out of my chest...” Sumire says, with her cheeks pink and her heartbeat racing faster than ever before.

“I don’t want to let go,” Ren simply admits. There’s a pause.

“...Good.” Sumire says. “If I can just hang onto this warm place in my mind… I feel like I can push myself further than I’ve ever gone before. I love you, Ren-senpai, now and forever.”

“Same here.” Ren states, “I love you too, Sumire.” He can feel his own cheeks starting to redden and his heartbeat slightly accelerate. They stay hugging for a few minutes, until they decide to let go. 

“Hey Sumi?” Ren asks.

“Yes?”

“I didn’t know that you admire me that much.”

“Wh-what do you mean? I m-mean it’s not li-like I don’t or something-” Sumire can’t help but get embarrassed.

“After seeing your Persona evolve, I can’t help but notice some similarities. Your Phantom Thief attire is very similar to mine and your new persona is literally a female Arsene.”

“W-well I guess you’re right. I do look up to you a lot, Senpai. You’re always so kind and helping others, so of course I would admire you!”

“I’m not trying to tease you this time, it’s just something that’s been in my head for a while. And plus, you yourself are someone to admire too. You help out other people as well, like that time you gave up your seat for that old lady.”

“I suppose you’re right. Anyways, should we get going-”

Sumire is interrupted by a phone call coming from Ren’s phone, who notices it’s from Futaba. He answers the call.

Call Started 

“Hey, Ren, didn’t expect you to be the one for all of that sappy stuff.”

“Futaba, did you hack my phone? Wait, I know the answer to that, of course you did.”

“Yep! And, oh, I was listening in to your entire conversation the whole time, just so you know.”

Ren lets out a sigh. “Futaba, when will you stop trying to invade my privacy?”

“Never! Mwehehe! Oh, and Ryuji told everyone about his relationship with Ann.”

“Oh ok, that’s not surprising-”

“He also told them about your relationship with Sumire.”

“Well, shit. Though, I’m somehow not surprised about that.”

“Hey, Ren, what’s wrong with us knowing, not like we’re going to tease you anything.”

“You and I both know that’s a lie. And plus, why don’t we reveal how you’re dating Yusuke? Though it was painfully obvious, so no one would be surprised.”

“Wait… how would you know that? I mean… Ugh, shoot. Were me and Inari really that obvious?”

“Your crush on Yusuke was more obvious than Sumire’s crush on me. Also, I didn’t know that you were dating Yusuke until now, but I’ll just say I’m happy for you too. Though, if he tries to harm you anyway, I’ll just let you know that Sojiro and I will personally hunt him down.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Anyways, gotta scram. See ya!”

“Bye, Futaba.”

Call Ended 

“Was that Futaba on the phone?” Sumire asked.

“Yep. Also, Ryuji told everyone about our relationship, so shit.” Ren said.

“I guess everyone was going to find out anyway. Morgana knows, Futaba knows and probably told Yusuke, Ryuji knows and would have probably told Ann. That would leave Akechi, Makoto, and Haru left who didn’t know. So I suppose I don’t really mind.”

“Yeah I suppose you’re right. Mind if I take you to the station?”

“Sure Sen-” Sumire is then interrupted by her stomach growling. “O-Oh, I’m actually pretty hungry right now.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll find a restaurant or something. My treat, Sumi.”

“Thanks, Senpai!”

Ren then holds Sumire’s hand as they walk out of the gym together to look for somewhere to eat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this chapter!
> 
> Any criticism, whether positive or negative, will be appreciated (this is my first fanfic and I haven't really written anything so anything would be appreciated).
> 
> I also added some Ryuji/Ann and Yusuke/Futaba because I'm a fan of those ships too.
> 
> Again, I'm not sure when I'll update this fanfic. I'm thinking of doing maybe only 6 of these retell events because I do want to start my own fanfics with my own ideas now. However, if anyone wants different events from the ones listed below, I'd be more than happy to do them.
> 
> Chapter 1: Rank 9 Faith Confidant  
> Chapter 2: Rank 10 Faith Confidant  
> Chapter 3: Final Palace, Maruki Fight  
> Chapter 4: Getting Joker out of Prison/Valentine's Day  
> Chapter 5: White Day  
> Chapter 6: Joker Leaves Tokyo


	3. Maruki's Palace: Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the first part of Maruki's Palace. However, the final boss fight (in other words, all of the February 3 stuff) will be in the next chapter. This chapter will be focused more on February 2, which is the day right before the final boss fight.
> 
> As always, I don't own Persona or any characters, obviously, and I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.

February 2, the final day before the showdown with Maruki. Ren can’t help but feel worried. After all, it’s the battle that will decide everything. Whether they live and continue to carve their own path or either die or end up as essentially mindless people that only feel happy. But most importantly, or at least to Ren, the fate of this battle will determine whether Sumire will live, or essentially be murdered and become Kasumi in Sumire’s body. However, the more he thinks about it, the more he gets worried- no, _scared_ would be the better word here. As Ren is lost in thought and waiting for his train to arrive, Sumire walks towards him.

“Good morning, Ren-senpai,” Sumire greets.

“Good morning, Sumi,” Ren greets back. There’s a brief pause before Sumire starts again.

“So… today is the day Dr. Maruki is supposed to contact us… Um…”

“What’s wrong, Sumi? Are you alright?” Ren says, but he already knows what she’s trying to say. Because he feels it too.

“Oh… I’m fine. I’ve just had something on my mind. I need to think about it a bit more. For now, we should get to school.”

“Alright then,” Ren says. The trains arrive and both Ren and Sumire enter the train. Ren makes sure to hold Sumire’s hand like they normally do when they go to school. However, his grip is tightened slightly, just in case today might be the last day they ever hold hands again.

While in class, Ren got a message from the group chat.

Group Chat:

Ryuji: If he’s coming, it’ll be today.

Sumire: I’m so nervous…

Ryuji: Me too. I can’t focus on class at all…

Ann: And how’s that any different from usual?

Ryuji: Shaddup! I mean, I seriously can’t today… I even tried.

Ann: God, I don’t know how I fell in love with you… 

Ryuji: Hey how would I know? You’re the one who confessed to me at the rooftop first, remember?

Ren: Anyways, we’ll handle it like always. All that’s left is the fight.

As Ren typed that text message, he couldn’t help but feel that he was lying in a way. He didn’t know what to expect from Maruki, and like Sumire, he was definitely nervous.

Futaba: You know it! :)

Yusuke: We’ve been so blessed with your cool composure.

 _I wouldn’t say “cool,_ ” Ren thought to himself.

Akechi: Ren, you’re the one Maruki is most likely to approach. If this happens, make sure you handle it just as we planned.

Ryuji: This is Ren here-we ain’t got nothing to worry about!

Ren: Thanks for the compliment, Ryuji.

Makoto: I know it’s a lot to hear, but can we ask you to make the call for us if he does show his face?

Ren: Leave it to me. I’m the leader after all.

Haru: Let us know right away if anything goes amiss, okay?

Ren: Alright. Gotta go back to class now. See ya.

“What’s Maruki’s next move gonna be? Even I’m starting to get a little antsy here…” Morgana asked.

“I don’t know,” Ren replied, making sure to keep his voice down so no would think he was talking to himself, “Honestly, I’m kind of worried. What if things don’t go right?”

“Don’t worry Ren. You killed a god, remember? You’ll definitely be able to lead us to victory tomorrow!” Morgana encouraged.

“Yeah, probably,” Ren said, then proceeded to pay attention to the lecture (or at least look like it).

After class, Ren got a text from Sumire:

Sumire (Private Conversation):

Sumire: Um? Senpai? Dr. Maruki’s supposed to contact us today… right?

Ren: That’s correct.

Sumire: Before that happens, there’s something I need to tell you.

Ren: Another love confession? But whatever it is, I'll be available.

Ren can almost imagine the extremely red blush on Sumire’s face when she reads his text.

Sumire: Thank you… Anyways, do you have any time today?

Ren: I’ll be right there. You know I always have time for you, Sumi. :)

Sumire: Great! Shall we meet up first? Preferably somewhere where we can relax and chat…

Ren: Since you came over to Leblanc when you wanted somewhere where we could relax and chat, why not go over there again?

Sumire: Actually, not that Leblanc is a bad place or anything, but can we go over to my place?

Ren: Wow, didn’t expect you to be that bold already, Sumi. But I’ll head over there ASAP.

Sumire: Thank you!

“Alright, Ren, let’s get ready and head over to Sumire’s house now!” Morgana stated.

“Yep, let’s go,” Ren replied.

Sumire was walking around her room, looking worried. _Maybe going to Leblanc was a better idea than this. I mean, I don’t know if my heart is going to be able to take it… I’m so nervous…_

“Hi, Sumi,” Ren greeted, which shocked Sumire temporarily.

“Gah! Wait, Ren, you’re here already?” Sumire asked.

“Yeah, I said I was gonna come over ASAP. Did I scare you?”

“Umm… Well… this is the first time I’ve invited a boy over to my house, so I’m kind of nervous.” Sumire could once again feel the blood slowly rushing to her cheeks.

“I’d be lying if I wasn’t nervous too.”

“B-But if you feel it too, I’ll just get even more self-consciousness…”

“If it helps, I think your room is nice and tidy.”

“Th-thanks, Ren-senpai. I’ll try not to let it get to me. Hopefully, that’ll help you too, Senpai.”

“Um… I asked you here today because I wanted to tell you about my decision. This is where Kasumi and I promised each other we’d be the best in the world. Pretty much everything here is the same as Kasumi’s bedroom. Except for the colors, but not much else. That’s how it always was. Kasumi kept saying we should get the same styles, the same clothes…”

“I can see you were close,” Ren observes.

“Yes. So… when I lost her, I… I just went into shock. I can talk about it now that I have some distance from it, but before, I was too…” Sumire trails off before continuing. “Honestly… in the grand scheme of things, I’m grateful to Dr. Maruki.”

“Grateful for what?” Ren questions.

“Well, he showed me it was possible to live my life the way Kasumi lived hers. I ran away from who I really was, sure. But if I’d kept living as Sumire… I’d probably never have talked to you. I’d still be crying every day. Becoming Kasumi helped me come into your life. And because everything happened the way it did, I found ways to go back to being Sumire, one step at a time. I think… I really needed that time I spent as my sister. That’s why I’m grateful to Dr. Maruki.”

“I see.”

“And that’s why I have something to tell him, too. Or rather, I want to show him that I found a way to face reality. If Dr. Maruki sees how far I’ve come… I’d like to think it might give him the strength to do the same.”

Ren smiles. “That’s the spirit! And as always, I’ll be there to help you.”

“Yes! I’ll be the strongest Sumire Yoshizawa I can be!”

After Sumire says those words, both of them can see Cendrillon and Vanadis, and start to fuse together into one persona: Ella. It reminds both of them of what happened after Sumire’s gymnastics practice. As Sumire realizes her new, true persona, Ren can see the Faith tarot card slowly start to fall towards her heart and disappear.

“Thank you so much, Ren-senpai. If I hadn’t met you, I’d never have found the strength to face myself. I hope we’ll always be able to count on each other. That way, I won’t ever lose myself again.”

“I promise,” Ren says, “I promise that we’ll move forward together.”

“Yes! We can help each other to reach new heights!” Sumire exclaims. “Oh, but before you leave, I noticed something.”

Ren raises an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Umm…” Sumire starts to say, slightly frowning, trying to figure out how to put her thoughts into words. Finally, she says softly, “You’re worried about tomorrow, aren’t you? I’ve never seen you so on edge before.”

Ren, after overcoming his initial shock of how she was able to notice that, admits his fear. “Yeah, you’re right… Honestly, I’m not sure what will even happen tomorrow. For all we know, he could just snap and we’d all fade away. But, that’s not the only thing.” Ren takes a pause and a deep breath before continuing. “We’re going to be risking everything tomorrow, Sumi. Honestly, I’m afraid that today might be the last day I’d ever be able to see you, as yourself.”

Sumire is initially shocked, but then suddenly motions for Ren to come and sit on her bed with her. When Ren sits down, she leans towards him and has an arm around him.

“Honestly, I’m scared too.” Sumire admits. “I think everyone is. As you said, this could be our last day truly together… But deep down, I know we will win. Because if we don’t, who will? We’re the only ones who can stop him, Senpai.”

Ren is touched by his girlfriend’s sweet and loving words. He begins to realize that they will be able to take down Maruki tomorrow. _We’ve killed a god, after all,_ Ren thinks, remembering the Phantom Thieves’ battle with Yaldabaoth.

“I see, Sumi, you’re right. We’ve come so far at this point, and it will only hurt us more if we come into battle thinking we’re going to lose,” Ren reasons. “Thank you, Sumi.”

“You’re welcome, Senpai! But, umm…” Sumire pauses again, wanting to say something again.

“What is it? Feel free to say it.”

“Oh… Thank you Senpai. But can I ask you for a favor?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Can you please not do anything careless tomorrow. Please…” Sumire starts, and Ren can see a tear coming out from her eye. “I don’t want to lose another person special to me.”

Wiping the tear from her eye, Ren tries to comfort her. “I promise, Sumi, that I won’t do anything dangerous tomorrow unless it’s absolutely necessary. I don’t want to worry you as well.”

“Thank you, Senpai, for promising that. I don’t know if there’s a future without you for me…” Sumire says. “And I appreciate that you’re going to not do anything reckless tomorrow… Thank you.”

Ren then wraps his arms around her for a while, hugging her close to his chest. She embraces them as well and the two stay like that for a while until Morgana pops out from Ren’s bag.

“Hey Sumire, Ren?” Morgana says, “Not to interrupt the special moment you lovebirds are having, but you do realize it’s getting dark outside, right?”

“Way to ruin the moment, Morgana,” Ren starts, but then looks out of Sumire's window and notices that Morgana is right. The sun was setting and it was starting to get dark outside.

“Oh it’s gotten so late… Thank you so much for coming over!” Sumire says, noticing the time. However, her smile quickly fades into a frown. “But… remember to not do anything reckless tomorrow, ok?”

“I won’t, Sumi,” Ren assures, “I won’t do anything that’ll compromise me tomorrow when we face Maruki, unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

Sumire seems to accept his answer. She then gives him a goodbye kiss on the cheek, despite having a blushing red face. Ren does the same, kissing her on the forehead and proceeding to head back to Leblanc with Morgana in his bag.

Ren arrives at Leblanc, in the evening. Sojiro greets him.

“Ah, you’re back,” Sojiro says, “Well, I know it’s a bit early, but I think I’m gonna close up shop for today.”

Ren stares at Sojiro in confusion, raising an eyebrow. It’s not common for Sojiro to close shop early out of the blue.

Sojiro notices Ren’s confusion and explains, “We were so busy today, I ran out of all my ingredients. I don’t even remember the last time that happened. Weird, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s uncommon for that to happen, Boss. Well, I’ll make sure to lock up Leblanc when you leave,” Ren states. Sojiro then grabs all of the stuff he needs to take home and leaves the cafe.

  
As Ren heads up to the attic, he gets a text message from the group chat.

Group Chat:

Haru: Tomorrow’s finally the day.

Futaba: We’ve already secured the route to the treasure… No problems there.

Ann: All we have to do now is wait.

Ryuji: Sweet! We’re gonna rock this shit!

Sumire: Yes! Oh, Ren-senpai, I wanted to ask you something… Has Dr. Maruki contacted you yet?

Ren: Nope, not yet. But I’m almost certain he will soon.

Yusuke: I see. I suppose waiting is our only option.

Makoto: You’re right. If anything comes up on my end, though, I’ll get in touch with you all. See you tomorrow.

After Ren closes the group chat on his phone, he gets a call. He looks at the caller ID and notices it’s Maruki.

Call Started

Maruki: My apologies for calling so late. This is Maruki, by the way. I’m actually rather close by… Would you mind lending me an ear? There’s something important we need to talk about… And if you do intend to confront me, I believe there’s something you have to give me first.

 _Oh shit, the calling card!_ Ren thinks.

Ren: All right.

Maruki: Thank you! I’ll be at the cafe shortly. See you later.

Call Ended

“Just as we suspected, he knew he’d have to get a calling card,” Morgana states, “I have no clue how this meeting’s gonna go down. Hey, ah… Ren?”

“Yeah, Morgana?”

“Just make sure to keep your guard up, ok?” Ren just nods.

Maruki arrives at the cafe. Ren makes coffee for the two of them and then they both sit down at the booth for their meeting.

“Sorry for the last-minute visit. How’s Yoshizawa-san holding up? I’ve been concerned about a potential relapse, considering her difficulties in accepting this reality.”

“She’s just fine. Sumire’s one tough lady,” Ren states. For a split second he also wants to bring up his relationship with her, but decides not to.

“I see… No, that's great news. So… getting down to business… I wanted to confirm with you one last time: is there no other way to come to an agreement besides fighting?”

“We can’t accept this reality,” Ren firmly states.

“The reality I created may seem distorted from your point of view, but it’s a reality where everyone is happy. If you just stay, you’ll never have to suffer the pain of loss, or the pain from having people and things stolen away from you!”

“Like you have?” Ren observes.

Maruki seems shocked for a split second, but then continues. “So you know what happened with Rumi… I’m not the one who suffered-she is. But she’s still living a wonderful life right now, in this world you call a ‘distorted reality.’”

“Wait,” Morgana interjects, “But she still doesn’t remember you, right? And you’re fine with that?”

“She may not be in my life anymore, but at least her own life's a happy one now,” Maruki counters, “I’m not doing this just for Rumi-I want all of you to live just as happily as she is. But for Rumi’s happiness to last, I have to move on. After all that’s happened to her, to me, I just can’t drag her into it.”

“Doc,” Morgana says.

“My stance will not change. Strange circumstances have led to my gaining of this power, however, I now recognize it as being wholly inevitable. This is something only I am capable of doing. I promise: every person alive will be happy in the world I create. So, let me ask you the same: after really considering every option, do you have any doubts on your views?”

“What do you mean?” asks Ren, perplexed.

“I suppose I should reword that question as, ‘Do you two gentlemen have any doubts?’”

 _Wait gentlemen?_ Ren thinks. _There’s only Morgana and me here, so…_

Maruki interrupts his thoughts. “You’re here, aren’t you? …Akechi-kun.”

 _Akechi? When did he come?_ Ren thinks, as Akechi walks in through the front doors of Leblanc.

Morgana shares Ren’s surprise as well. “Akechi…”

Akechi turns to face Maruki. “…You caught me.”

“Oh it was just a hunch…” Maruki says, “This issue doesn’t only affect you, Ren-kun… Akechi-kun, this involves you too.”

“Both Akechi and me?” Ren questions. Akechi frowns but remains silent.

“What do these two have to deal with…?” Morgana starts to ask.

Maruki answers. “The relationship you two share is very unusual… A detective and a phantom thief. Despite being enemies, your relationship isn’t based on hatred or ill will… That’s why I found it so tragic when I learned what happened in Shido’s palace…”

Ren has a flashback of what happened in Shido’s palace, where Akechi sacrificed his life for the other Phantom Thieves.

“Say, Ren-kun… Didn’t you regret how things ended with him?” Maruki says. “You two came to a deep understanding of one another… yet you had no choice but to leave Akechi-kun to his fate. That’s why I created a reality where you two could have a fresh start together.”

Ren and Morgana both have another flashback, but this time it’s when Ren tells Akechi that he still has the glove from after their duel.

“That would mean the Akechi in the real world is…” Morgana realizes.

“Get what I’m saying?” Maruki says, “I genuinely didn’t want to tell you like this. I didn’t want to make it seem like I was holding him hostage… But no matter what you may think of me, I just want you to all accept this reality and move on with your happy lives.”

“And that matters, how, exactly?” Akechi questions harshly. “Don’t tell me you think dangling my life before us is going to have any impact on our decision.”

“You figured that out?” Ren questions.

Akechi nods. “Well, I lacked conclusive evidence… But after I had fought against you all, I had a gap in my memory that ended with meeting with Ren again. There were also the cases of Wakaba Isshiki and President Okumura. Of course I’d find all of that suspicious.”

“I see…” Maruki says with a frown. “I had a feeling the truth of the matter still wouldn’t dissuade you, Akechi-kun… But how about you, Ren? ‘You think dangling my life before us is going to impact our decision?’ That’s what Akechi said a moment ago. If that’s how you see it at this point, I’m fine with it… But I’m still going to ask you one last time: Will you accept the reality I create for you? You were the guiding light of my research. You showed me the way so I could make my dream into reality. I have nothing but gratitude for you- not a single ounce of ill-will. That’s why I wanted you of all people to understand…”

Ren just remains silent. After the revelation that Akechi will die if they steal Maruki’s heart, he isn’t necessarily so sure anymore.

“Perhaps I shouldn’t ask you for an answer on the spot like that. I’ll be going now.”

“You forgot this,” Ren says, then throws him the calling card across the table.

“Ah, that’s right. I’ve heard your calling.” Maruki says. Morgana and Ren can feel his palace security level rise to 100%. “And about my question, let’s do this. I’ll be waiting at the palace tomorrow, just as I promised. If you still haven’t changed your mind by then, we’ll meet there. But if you don’t show, then I’ll take it to mean that you’ve accepted my reality. See you.” Maruki then heads out the door, leaving only Morgana, Akechi, and Ren.

“What are you going to do?” Morgana asks.

“I’d like to speak with Ren,” Akechi interrupts.

“Akechi…” Morgana tries to interject, but then thinks better of it. “…Gotcha. I’ll leave the decision up to you, Ren. Let me know when you’ve reached an answer.” Morgana then leaves and goes up into the attic, now leaving only Akechi and Ren left.

“I will carve my own path for myself. I refuse to accept a reality concocted by someone else, stuck under their control for the rest of my days.” Akechi says defiantly.

Ren says, “Are you sure? Because then you’ll…”

“Why wouldn’t I be? Don’t ask such stupid questions after all this time. All you have to do is stick to your guns and challenge Maruki. Or are you really so spineless that you’d fold over some bullshit, trivial threat on my life?”

“This isn’t some small potatoes, Akechi,” Ren says, “This is your life we are talking about here.”

“It IS! Do you think I’d be happy with this? Being shown mercy now, of all times? I don’t want to be pitied-this isn’t something I’m debating with you!” Akechi’s face then turns into a look of disappointment. “Your indecisiveness on the matter is essentially a betrayal of my wishes.”

“Akechi, this isn’t something to-” Ren starts.

“Ren! Think of it this way. If you accept his reality, your beloved Sumire is going to die! Are you going to choose so that way I live, even if I don’t want to, in some mindless utopia at the exchange of Sumire’s life?!”

Ren remains silent. As much as he respects Akechi as a rival and a friend, he wouldn’t put Sumire’s life on the line just for him to live. He thinks back to Sumire’s confession to him, the gymnastics practice, and the other dates he took her on, and how happy she was, finally living as Sumire. There was no way he was going to take that away from her.

“I want to hear you say it out loud,” Akechi says. “What are you going to do? I won’t wait a moment longer. Answer me!”

“We’re stopping Maruki,” Ren says, now with more confidence.

Akechi seems satisfied with his rival’s answer. “All right, I’m relieved to hear it. I will never accept this form of reality. I’m done being manipulated. Let’s go back… to our true reality.”

After Akechi says those words, both Ren and Akechi can see Robin Hood and Loki, slowly starting to form into one persona: Hereward. Similarly to Sumire, he can see the Justice tarot card slowly fall towards Akechi’s heart, before disappearing.

As Akechi begins to leave, he says, “What’s a life worth in a reality that was cooked up just to satisfy someone else? I say none. We have to win this- no matter what.” Akechi then leaves the cafe.

 _There’s no going back now… not that I want to_ , Ren thinks.

As Ren heads up the Leblanc attic, he sees Morgana.

“So, what was your decision, Ren?” Morgana asks.

“We’re taking Maruki down.” Ren says confidently.

“Ok, glad to hear it from you,” Morgana says, “I know you’d make the right decision, since you’re the leader of the Phantom Thieves. But don’t forget about sleep! You have to be well-rested for tomorrow.”

“I know, Morgana. I was planning to go to sleep as soon as I finish the necessary preparations for tomorrow.” Ren says, then finishes the preparations and yawns. “Anyways, I’ll be going to sleep now. Good night, Morgana.”

“Good night, Ren.”

Ren turns off the lights and both Morgana and Ren drift off into a slumber, resting themselves for the final showdown that would be on the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this chapter!
> 
> Any criticism, whether positive or negative, will be appreciated (this is my first fanfic and I haven't really written anything so anything would be appreciated). Also, if there are any grammatical or spelling errors, feel free to point them out in the comments so I can edit them.
> 
> I know I said in the last chapter that I was gonna do the Maruki boss fight as one whole chapter, but as I'm writing it, I'm starting to feel like this is going to take a while, so I feel like I should just post the first part of the chapter and then continue working on the second part so that way I upload somewhat consistently and frequently. This week I'm pretty busy, so I wanted to at least post part of it now rather than posting everything after like a week. Not gonna lie, I feel like this is the worst chapter I wrote for this work so far (hopefully the next one will be better). Also, I'm noticing that writing boss fights are VERY difficult and not my thing, so most likely I will have to cut out the first part of the boss fight (the one with the tentacles and stuff), but I'll keep the Adam Kadmon and the fist fight, since those are more scripted and a lot more easier to write. I'm also planning to split Valentine's Day into Getting Joker Out of Prison and the actual Valentine's Day (which is why there are 8 chapters), because once again, I'm not sure if I'd be able to finish in time, and I don't want to just leave this work not updating for weeks on end.
> 
> Anyways, once again, thank you for reading this chapter, and I hope to see you in the next one!


	4. Maruki's Palace: Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the second part of Maruki's Palace. This will include the events of February 3, most importantly the final boss fight. The first phase of the boss fight (the one where Maruki summons the tentacles and stuff) has mostly been cut, since I wanted to focus on the other two phases more.
> 
> As always, I don't own Persona or any characters, obviously, and I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.

The final battle. February 3, where the fate of reality will be determined. Even though it’s a school day, not a single one of them actually pays attention in class (as Ryuji said, they’ll need to save their attention for the fight with Maruki, though everyone knew he was just trying to find an excuse for not paying attention). After what feels like an eternity in school, the final bell rings, and all of the Phantom Thieves rush back to the attic in Leblanc, which is both the home of Ren, the leader of the Phantom Thieves, and the operations of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. Once everyone has arrived, Makoto speaks up.

“All right, we’re all here,” Makoto starts off.

“It’s time, our final battle…” Haru states.

“Maruki came by Leblanc last night, so we gave him the calling card.” Morgana recaps.

“I doubt Maruki is still interested in discussion. You realize there’s no backing out now, right?” Akechi reminds the other Phantom Thieves.

“Heh, ain’t no way we’re gonna run away now,” Ryuji states confidently, “We’re gonna confront Doc in his Palace, show him what’s up, and go back to our own reality—right, Ren?”

“Let’s do this.” Ren announces confidently. “After all, if we took down a reality-warping god, I don’t see why not we can do it again.”

“Right!” Sumire says. Ren smiles at her confidence.

“It’s time to take back what belongs to us: our own reality!” Morgana yells. All the other Phantom Thieves nod in agreement and stand up, ready to go to Maruki’s palace.

“It appears we are all ready. Let’s—” Yusuke starts.

“Wait, Inari, I forgot something!” Futaba shouts, then proceeds to literally jump onto Yusuke, giving him a bear hug. Yusuke, after his initial shock, manages to keep his balance and hugs her back. He kisses the top of her forehead, which makes Futaba redden a little. Ren raises an eyebrow, and for a split second is about to walk over to the couple, but stops and instead grins. He then does the same thing Yusuke does and kisses Sumire on the top of her head, which, as expected, causes her to blush.

“Since you’ll be out there fighting, you better promise me that you won’t do anything stupid, Inari!” Futaba says. Yusuke nods, and Sumire looks at Ren. Ren just gives a slight nod, remembering his similar promise from yesterday.

“That goes for you too, Ryuji!” Ann says. “Unless you want to give me— I mean all of us another heart attack again!”

“Hey, Ann, I already promised I won’t do that kind of shit again.” Ryuji says in a quieter tone than normal.

“How about we all just not do anything reckless?” Makoto compromises.

“I agree. Can we stop talking and just head to the damn palace already?” Akechi hisses. “We got a treasure to steal.”

“Alright then, let’s go, Phantom Thieves of Hearts!” Ren says, almost as a rally call, as the group begins to exit Leblanc and head into Maruki’s palace.

Once all of the Phantom Thieves have arrived and are at the front of the Palace, Ren speaks up.

“Alright, me, Crow, Violet, and Queen are in the front lines for this fight. Everyone else is back up.”

“All right, seems like a good strategy, Joker.” Makoto compliments.

“Let’s do this Senpai!” Sumire exclaims.

“I’m in the front lines? Yes… Finally I can see some bloodshed!” Akechi screeches.

“Crow, calm down,” Ryuji says. “We’re supposed to take his treasure, not kill him you dumbass.”

“Skull’s right,” Ren said. “We don’t want to kill him. I thought you would already know this by now, _my rival_.”

“Tch… Whatever, Joker. Let’s move.” Akechi says.

The Phantom Thieves run past through the laboratory’s halls until they finally reach the Psientific Model of Eden. There, they hear Maruki’s voice.

“I see you made it. Come on up… I’ll meet with you at the center of paradise.”

“Well, we can finally move on now that we’ve got some stairs. Let’s end this,” Akechi says.

 _Holy shit, that’s a lot of stairs,_ Ren thinks. _Maybe it’s to make us more tired when we face him?_

“Right!” Sumire exclaims.

“Once we pass through here, we won’t have any choice but to confront Maruki. You ready Joker?” Morgana asks.

“Didn’t need to ask. I’ve never felt more ready than now.”

“All right. Let’s do it!” Morgana says.

Ren takes out his grappling hook and proceeds to fly the Phantom Thieves one by one up the massive amount of stairs. When there’s only one person left, Sumire, he smiles and grabs her gently. “Are you ready?” he asks.

“Yes! Let’s do this Senpai!” Sumire exclaims as she hugs Ren and they fly up the stairs on the grappling hook. As they’re flying up, Sumire takes the opportunity to give Ren a kiss on the cheek. It surprises Ren for a second (he almost lets go of the grappling hook) but he grins and then does the same to her. Sumire giggles and then they arrive where the other thieves are waiting.

“Joker, has it really not crossed your mind that you could have just _given us our own grappling hook?_ ” Crow asks. “I’m already tired of waiting just so you lovebirds can waste every moment kissing each other!”

“It’s stylish,” Sumire defends.

“Yeah, not going to lie, Crow, but it seems that you’re just jealous that you’re the only one who hasn’t gotten a girl yet, besides Mona.” Joker says. Crow just spits out a “Tch, whatever,” and the thieves continue their journey up the top of the stairs.

“We’re all ready—let’s do this, Joker!” Skull says.

“Try exercising more patience this time, all right?” Mona says.

“No way is THAT happening!” Skull claims.

Noir giggles. “Oh, I think everything’ll be fine— it’s basically the same as we always do!”

“I can see the top now! We’re almost there!” Violet observes.

Finally, the Phantom Thieves have made it to the top and see Maruki waiting.

“Thank you for coming,” Maruki begins. “…It seems I have your answer.”

“It’s time to end this… once and for all.” Ren says without hesitation.

“Indeed… no more hesitation.” Maruki replies. “Let’s begin.” He then takes a few steps forward. “If you win, my heart will be changed… But if I win, my reality becomes the true reality. I will overwrite all of existence with my own cognition. I’m not holding back anymore.”

Suddenly, the floor starts to shake.

“Wh-what the…” Ann starts.

“Just as you have your own beliefs, I too have no intentions of changing my plan for reality. No matter what happens to me in the end, I will fix this torturous world! That… is my own rebellion!” Maruki asserts. His clothes then change from a lab coat to a golden outfit, making him appear god-like.

“His apparel just…” Fox observes.

“And I believe you called forth your power like this: Persona.” Maruki says. Then a huge, golden sword-like Persona appears behind him.

“No way… So Maruki does have a Persona!” Mona exclaims.

“I regret not pointing this out to you… You shouldn’t mistake our powers as being equal. It’s time, Azathoth. Our final battle has come.”

“Dr. Maruki…” Sumire starts.

“I have to do this…” Maruki says.

“Incoming guys! Get ready!” Oracle alerts.

Joker and Violet both hit him with all of their strength. However, nothing seems to happen.

“His Persona protected him?” Makoto questions.

“This Persona is definitely trouble…” Futaba notices.

Joker, Queen, Crow, and Violet exchange attacks with Maruki and his Persona, Azathoth. They follow the same attack pattern for most of the fight: take down the tentacles, beat the shit out of his Persona, and then repeat. The other Phantom Thieves stay back and when they can, do some damage as well. After a while, the fighting stops temporarily and Azathoth begins to transform and strengthen itself.

“Not bad...but we've just begun!” Maruki states.

“So have we,” Joker says, smirking. “Let’s continue.”

The Phantom Thieves continue the same strategy as before, knocking out the tentacles with attacks, making use of Baton Passes and taking advantage of weaknesses to quickly wipe them out. Even though the tentacles eventually switch weaknesses, but thanks to Futaba’s scans, they are able to take them down with ease. They then continue to damage Azathoth, it’s health slowly being chipped down. Azathoth also has some more powerful skills as well, which made the fight harder for Joker and his party. Azathoth also has the power to prevent them from using certain skills, Baton Passes, or items as well, making the fight even more difficult. However, the Phantom Thieves are able to push on and continue to fight Maruki and Azathoth. After a while, Azathoth is starting to show signs of failing. Crow smiles slightly as Maruki starts to panic.

“I won’t fail… I CAN’T FAIL!” Maruki panics, now starting to see that he might actually lose. As a last resort, he begins to plead with the other front-line party members to change their minds, starting with Makoto. “Niijima-san! Everyone has the right to wish for a happy family! You don't need to keep holding back your desires!”

“I’ll fulfill my desire for a happy family— with my own power!” Queen states confidently.

Seeing that his begging didn’t work, he tries again with Akechi. “Akechi-kun! Don't throw away your life! If you're with Ren-kun and his friends, you could begin to atone what you've done!”

Crow snarls. “Enough of this high-and-mighty bullshit! You’re pissing me off!”

 _Akechi-kun’s not convinced… not that I expected it to work,_ thinks Maruki. This time he tries Sumire.

“Yoshizawa-san! That pain you're suffering... It must be impossible to move on! I want to save you from that awful life!”

“I am myself! I’ll never forget that again!” Sumire states confidently.

 _Yoshizawa-san’s isn’t faltering either…_ Maruki thinks. He’s about to go for Ren next, but Ren cuts him off.

“Are you really going to just beg each of us, one by one, to change our minds now? All that’s going to do is waste time,” Ren says. “Because our answer is still going to stay the same. We’re not going to accept your reality. That’s why we came to your palace today, remember?”

Maruki sighs, but doesn’t say anything in return. He commands Azathoth to attack again and the battle resumes. It doesn’t take long for Azathoth to finally fail and no longer move, unable to sustain more damage from the thieves’ attacks.  
“Azathoth?!” Maruki exclaims, almost in disbelief.

“Finally! His Persona can’t act anymore!” Futaba announces. “This is your shot, Joker!”

Joker nods, but before he attacks, he makes sure to say a snarky comment before defeating Maruki. “You said to not mistake our powers as being equal. You’re right. You’ve lost, Maruki. And you haven’t taken out even one of us during this whole fight.” With that comment, he takes his dagger and slashes at Maruki’s staff, dropping it to the ground. Joker then hits Maruki in the back of the head with his fist, and Maruki falls to the floor, having his power sapped away after Azathoth's defeat. Azathoth falls to the floor, lifeless.

Maruki gets up from the floor, barely standing up. “Azathoth? Did I… Did I really fail?” As he says those words, a torch comes up in front of the thieves.

“Is that… the Treasure?” Panther asks.

Mona nods. “It’s Maruki’s treasure.”

“It’s a torch…” Noir observes.

“A torch is a light to guide people— it may symbolize his perception of himself as the guide of the entire world,” Crow reasons. “We’re here to change his heart, aren’t we? Go on, Joker, take it.”

Joker takes the torch.

“So… this is it…” Maruki mumbles. The palace is starting to collapse after Joker takes the torch.

“This place is collapsing!” Futaba warns.

“We’d better take our leave.” Yusuke says.

“Rumi… I’m sorry I couldn’t…” Maruki starts. “No, I… I can still…”

“Joker look out!” Makoto warns. Joker rolls away just in time before the debris can hit him.

“Dammit… We’ve gotta book it!” Ryuji says.

Morgana turns into a van. “Guys! Get in!”

The thieves rush into the Mona-bus and Makoto takes the wheel, slamming the accelerator. “Hang on!” she yells as she drives off a cliff and lands the Mona-bus on a road nearby.

The thieves exit the Mona-bus and Morgana turns back into his normal Metaverse form.

“That was close,” Yusuke notes.

“Dr. Maruki…” Sumire says, letting her words trail off.

“This has gone too far past changing someone’s heart…” Ann notes. “Is he even still alive?”

“Looks like that isn’t a concern,” Akechi notices and points at Maruki, who is standing above them on another platform.

“Sorry, but I won’t admit defeat just yet.” Maruki says with resolve.

“Please, stop, Dr. Maruki. Just give this up,” Ren tries to convince Maruki.

Maruki shakes his head. “I’m sorry— you know I can’t do that. I’ve been chosen by the world itself! Granting this wish is my responsibility!” After saying that, he pulls the torch from Ren’s hand towards him.

“For real?” Ryuji shouts.

“Ah! He just— the Treasure!” Ann says.

After the torch is in his hand, Maruki raises it, and behind him flashes of golden light appear behind him. His Persona, Azathoth, is revived again and appears behind him. Azathoth’s tentacles slowly start to form hands, and soon it transforms into a massive golden humanoid Persona, growing larger by the second.

 _Holy shit. It might be as big as Satanael_ , Ren thinks. He can’t tell whether it actually is that large or if it’s because of the angle he’s looking at. Either way, he knows that the thieves might be in some serious trouble.

“No… You can’t be serious…” Futaba says. The thieves are frozen in fear.

“Maruki… He’s done it… He’s evolved his Persona.” Morgana says.

“Such strength of will…” Yusuke notes.

“If it’s for everyone’s happiness… I don’t care what happens to me!” Maruki announces. “Don’t resist… Accept it. With my power— no… With mine and Adam Kadmon’s together, our reality is nigh!”

Joker, Mona (having switched out with Queen), Violet, and Crow all rush to fight Maruki and his new powered-up Persona.

“I refuse to let it end like this. Adam Kadmon! Guide us all to our ideal reality!” Maruki demands.

“You’re wrong!” Sumire argues.

“We’ll decide our own reality,” Ren says.

“Yeah! We refuse to let it end any other way too!” Futaba exclaims.

“Persona!” Maruki yells. Oracle warns the others that Maruki’s defense has gone up tremendously.

Joker starts off by calling Black Frost, commanding it to use Diamond Dust on Maruki. Crow summons Hereward, who uses a Rebellion Blade on Maruki. Violet summons Ella, using Masquerade, and Mona summons Diego ordering it to use Magarudyne. Maruki takes the damage from the hits, but prepares to use his own Persona against them.

“Adam Kadmon! Lend me your strength…” Maruki shouts. Adam Kadmon then proceeds to suck most of the thieves’ health, with most of them clenching over in pain. Maruki is then healed with the drained health.

Mona summons Diego to cast Mediarahan on the party members, while Joker uses another Diamond Dust with Black Frost. Crow uses another Rebellion Blade, while Violet uses a Makouagon. Adam Kadmon, in retaliation, then raises his palm and creates purple and white energy, that heads towards Sumire, hitting her. Sumire screams out in pain and almost falls to the floor, bending over and clutching her stomach in agony.

“Violet!” Joker screams, then rushes to help her.

“I’ll be f—fine… Senpai,” Violet manages to say. She tries to get up but can’t from the pain.

“Joker! Focus on the battle! I’ll heal her!” Morgana says.

Joker agrees, but he’s starting to lose focus. He’s almost as pissed as Crow at this moment, after seeing Violet fall to the ground in agony and pain. He summons Yoshitsune and charges up for an attack. Akechi uses another Rebellion Blade on Maruki, while Sumire is now fully healed by Morgana from a Diarahan. Adam Kadmon, performs the same attack again, but this time aiming for Joker. However, he’s kicked out of the way by Akechi, who takes the blow for him.

“Gah! I-I’ll be fine…” Akechi says. Morgana goes over to him and summons Diego to use Diarahan on Akechi.

Ren summons Yoshitsune and uses Hassou Tobi, still angry over what happened to Sumire. It deals tremendous amounts of damage to Maruki, causing him to scream in pain. Sumire finishes Maruki off with another Makouagon, sending the counselor kneeling on one knee.

“I still… can’t do it?!” Maruki asks, once again in despair.

“Give it up, Maruki,” Joker says. “You’ve lost.”

“No.” Maruki says. “I’m sorry. I said I didn’t care what happened to me…” Maruki pauses, trying to breathe. “But I guess… I wasn’t committed to my words… You too, huh?” Maruki says to Adam Kadmon, who extends a hand.

The other thieves stare at him. Crow suddenly pulls out his gun and aims it at Maruki.

“Crow-senpai, what are you—” Violet is about to say.

“What does it look like?” Crow says, then fires several shots from his gun. However, it’s blocked by tentacles coming from Adam Kadmon.

“You think the same thing, don’t you,” Maruki says to Adam Kadmon. “Of course you do… After all…”

Crow, being visibly annoyed now, puts his gun away and pulls out his sword.

“No, you can’t!” Violet shouts.

Crow turns around. “If we hesitate right now— we die!”

“Crow’s right,” Joker says, pulling out his dagger.

“Up there!” Mona interrupts, pointing to Adam Kadmon, who looks like he’s literally going to eat Dr. Maruki. Maruki is then absorbed by Adam Kadmon.

“I’m all yours… Use me, however you want…” Maruki says, “Now, show us the reality, the reality we wish for…” Maruki is then cut off by a tentacle wrapping around his neck, which silences him.

Meanwhile, the Phantom Thieves are looking at Adam Kadmon, who interrupts the silence. Suddenly, Maruki and Adam Kadmon both say, “I am thou… And thou art I!” With that sentence, Adam Kadmon’s eyes grow orange and the Phantom Thieves can see him bursting with power. Even the ground beneath them looks like it could give way any moment.

“Incoming!” Oracle warns, as Adam Kadmon’s right fist glows red, orange, and yellow with ridiculous amounts of power. He then slams his fist down on the platform where the Phantom Thieves are on, causing a huge wave of energy to hit the Phantom Thieves. Most of them are barely standing after the impact. “Oh no!” Oracle yells.

“It’s fine,” Joker says. “We can still take him down.”

“This power is the source… and the destination,” Adam Kadmon says, his voice booming throughout the palace. “I will be the light that guides mankind!”

“We’re going to beat you, and go back to our OWN reality!” Violet says confidently.

Morgana nods in agreement. “That’s the spirit. Now let’s finish this!”

Joker summons Black Frost and commands it to use Bufudyne. However, Adam Kadmon doesn’t even flinch from the attack.

“What the hell?” Joker mutters under his breath.

“What! It’s not working at all!” Oracle shouts.

“DIE, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” Crow screeches as he summons Hereward and uses a Rebellion Blade. Adam Kadmon remained still, almost having taken no damage from the attack. “What the fuck?!” Crow shouts in disbelief.

“It’s no use! Try something else!” Oracle recommends.

Violet summons Ella. “Ella! Masquerade!” she shouts, as Ella performs the attack. Once again, barely any damage has been done. _Nothing works…_ Violet thinks.

“Wha… Nothing works?” Oracle says.

“All right, here’s how it’s gonna go,” Joker orders. “Mona will try to heal after he does one of those fist attacks. Oracle, keep looking for a way to get around his invincibility. Crow, Violet, and me will try to attack Adam Kadmon and see if his health goes down. Everyone got that?”

“Yes!” Mona, Violet, and Oracle say together.

Morgana proceeds to heal the team with a Mediarahan. After he does so, Adam Kadmon prepares another Full Force attack, his fist once again surging with power.

“Hereward, KILL THEM!” Crow screeches, summoning Hereward to perform a Rebellion Blade. However, this time, the thieves notice that Adam Kadmon seems to have taken more damage then last time.

“It seems that when he charges up, his defense is lowered,” Joker notes. “Oracle, see if you can find a weakness. We’ll have to attack him when he charges up and once his weakness is found. Everyone, guard now!”

“Got it!” Oracle says.

Joker and the other party members guard, ready to be hit by Adam Kadmon’s attack.

“I cannot fail… I must not fail you all!” Adam Kadmon booms, as he sends his fist hurling towards the thieves. Luckily, the thieves took the damage much better this time, but they are still badly hurt.

“If this keeps up…” Oracle starts to say. “I’m gonna try to find a way to get us through this. Just hang on for a few more seconds!”

Joker nods. Mona heals the group, while Joker, Crow, and Violet pull their guns and fire. Just as expected, it barely does any damage once Adam Kadmon is no longer charging up. Then, Adam Kadmon is charging up once again. Joker and the other members guard and brace themselves for the impact, since they don’t have a weakness on Adam Kadmon that they can target yet.

Adam Kadmon launches his fist at them, with the Phantom Thieves surviving the attack thanks to the guard. Mona heals them again, and Joker raises everyone’s defense with a Marakukaja. Once Adam Kadmon starts charging up again, everyone guards and braces for the impact.

“The time to end such strife is at hand!” Adam Kadmon booms, bringing his fist down. Thanks to the raised defense and the guard, the Phantom Thieves still manage to stay strong.  
“Guys I found it’s weakness!” Oracle yells. “Joker, the next time he attacks, that’s your chance.”

Adam Kadmon prepares another Full Force attack, this time much quicker than usual. “Let’s settle this… once and for all!” he yells, starting to bring down his fist.

“His head is his weak spot… though our attacks are ineffective in his normal state. But whenever he attacks, he drops his guard while concentrating all of his power! So if we can target his head as he strikes, we might have a shot!” Oracle announces.

Mona nods towards Joker, then runs towards Adam Kadmon with the other thieves. As Adam Kadmon is slowly bringing his fist down, all the thieves’ masks start to fade away. Eventually, his fist is brought down on the Phantom Thieves. Joker turns away, blinded by the energy that is bursting from the impact. However, when he looks again, he notices something that he didn’t expect at all. All of his teammates were holding out against Adam Kadmon’s fist, blocking it from hitting them.

“What!? Impossible!” Adam Kadmon shouts in disbelief. He tries pressing his hand down more on the thieves to crush them, but it’s no use.

Joker smiles. “This is the true power of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, Maruki.”

Ren’s best bro, Ryuji, shouts, “We’ve come this far— we ain’t gonna give up!”

Next to him, Ann yells, “Yeah! You gotta do way better than this!”

Yusuke warns, “Don’t underestimate our tenacity!”

On the other side, Ren’s two senpais, Makoto and Haru, are stopping the fist as well. “It’s just another threat. We’ll overcome it like we always do!” Makoto shouts.

Haru asserts, “If I run now, I know I’ll regret it!”

Sumire shouts, “We’ll decide for ourselves what we want our lives to be!” Joker notices Sumire’s comment and grins, proud of how far she has come in terms of her confidence.

The next comment makes Joker laugh a little. “I’m a bit occupied right now, Joker, so stop standing there watching us do all the work and do your goddamn JOB!” Crow shouts.

“Oracle, how does it look?” Mona asks.

“Perfect! His head’s defense level has dropped to 0%! Go for it!” Oracle confirms.

“Joker! Finish it!” Mona shouts.

Joker nods and jumps up on the debris that is flying around, parkouring around the pieces of rock that are heading towards him. Once he is in range, he takes out his grappling hook and shoots it at a platform high above Adam Kadmon. As he flies through the air, he drops onto Adam Kadmon’s head in a stylish fashion and whips out his gun.

“Checkmate.” is all Joker says and he pulls the trigger. The bullet fires through Adam Kadmon and hits the top part of Maruki’s mask, severing his connection to Adam Kadmon and resulting in him falling. Adam Kadmon fades away.

Maruki lands on the road that the Phantom Thieves are on, falling to his knees. “Why… I gave up everything else… I dedicated all that I have to end this… But I still… Why?” Maruki says, unable to believe that he just lost.

“You’re running from the past, Maruki,” Joker points out.

“I’m running from…” Maruki starts, then starts to laugh. “You nailed it. It’s true that I turned my back on the original reality… But where’s the harm in that?! When it grows to be too much, too painful… Every person deserves to escape that!”

Sumire notices that he’s talking about her in that sentence, and how she was masquerading as Kasumi for a while. She opens her mouth to say something, but stays silent.

“In all honesty, it’s best for a person’s growth when they tackle their own hardships… But reality doesn’t always make that so feasible! No matter how much you try, or work for so long, the smallest injustice can wipe it all out… leaving you with nothing… Don’t you, of all people, understand that?” Maruki asks the thieves, but it’s shown that he specifically means Joker.

“You have to look to the future,” Joker points out. “Even if things may not be going well right now, they definitely will be in the future. At the start of this year, who was I? A falsely-accused delinquent who was shamed by everyone. No one wanted to talk to me or know the true story. But over the months, I got stronger. I made new friends.” Ren gestures to the Phantom Thieves behind him. “And while things weren’t always great, we still get moving on. Even when things got bad to the point where we could have _died_ if we made one mistake, all of us continued to look towards the future.” Ren pauses. “If you gave me the offer at the beginning of the year, honestly, I would probably accept it. But I’ve realized now, that things will always get better, even if it doesn’t seem like that right now. And that applies to you too, Maruki. One day, things will get better.”

Morgana adds onto Ren’s monologue. “You know, there probably are plenty of people who would ultimately benefit from your ‘reality.’ But what about the people that want to take on the world themselves? How’s it right to rob them of their opportunities?”

Sumire also adds on as well. “I don’t think what you’re saying is wrong either, Dr. Maruki. Some people want to run from their pain and cling to some other version of reality… like I used to. But the knowledge I gained through that pain, and my desire to move on… Those are even more precious to me! And I won’t let anyone take them from me again!”

Maruki is shocked. “Yoshizawa-san… So you truly don’t want it… Huh… Looks like I’m totally finished.” As he says those words, the palace around them starts to collapse once more.

The palace continues to rumble.

“Woah!” Ryuji shouts, almost falling to the ground.

“The Palace is collapsing!” Haru notices.

Sumire notices Maruki still kneeling down. “Dr. Maruki! Hurry! It’s not safe there!” Maruki takes off his mask, but is then covered by dust and debris coming from the Palace. Sumire tries to reach out and help him, but Akechi grabs her.

“No! It’s too late for him,” Akechi says.

“We’re trapped as well!” Yusuke warns. “Is there any way…?”

“Everyone get over here! Hurry!” Morgana yells. Everyone gets inside the Mona-bus.

“Mona-chan, what are you—” Haru starts.

“This is no time to act tough!” Makoto scolds.

“Who— said it was an act? Heh…” Morgana says.

Sumire rushes over to the wheel and yells, “Mona-senpai, can you fly?”

“But I’m a car!” Morgana points out. “There’s no way I can…” Morgana pauses. “No. It’s now or never… I HAVE to fly!” Morgana screams and grunts.

Suddenly, the thieves are in the air, with them inside Morgana who’s now a helicopter now. Unfortunately, everyone is all packed together in a small space like sardines inside the Mona-copter.

“Wha—what?!” most of the thieves yell out in shock.

“A helicopter,” Yusuke notes.

“If you could do this, then SAY SO DAMMIT!” Futaba scolds.

“Well I didn’t know!” Morgana defends, then boasts, “Now I’m downright priceless to the Phantom Thieves, heheh…”

“Sorry to interrupt your little moment of triumph, but…” Akechi interrupts, “But couldn’t you have made yourself just a little bit larger?”

“Hey, where’d Joker go?” Ryuji asks.

“Joker’s not here?!” Sumire panics. “Mona-senpai, how could you forget him?!” Sumire feels like she’s having a heart attack right now, worrying about her love.

“Woah, calm down, Violet! He’s here!” Morgana reassures. The thieves then notice Joker on a rope, holding onto it as Morgana flies through the air. Sumire sighs in relief.

As they’re flying through the air, suddenly Morgana gets latched onto by something, which starts pulling the helicopter down. Joker looks up and notices it’s one of Maruki’s tentacles. _So he made it out alive…_ Joker thinks. Up in the Mona-copter, however, all the thieves are panicking. Fox almost falls off the copter, but manages to grab onto the sides just in time.

“We’re losing altitude!” Morgana warns. Maruki’s tentacles tighten its grip and Morgana screams out in pain. Joker looks back up at his teammates, one by one, from Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, Noir, Crow, and Violet. He looks at Violet, who is the only one staring at him, clearly worried for his safety. Joker takes one last good look at her. He knows what he has to do now.

“I’m sorry, Sumi,” Ren says, before letting go of the rope and falling towards the bridge Maruki is on. As he falls, he moves towards the tentacle and cuts it with his knife, freeing Morgana and the other thieves.

“REN!!!” Sumire screams as he falls till they can no longer see him, no longer bothering with codenames. _Did he just_ … _Did he just break his promise?_ Sumire thinks. She’s just too in shock over what just happened. 

“Joker!” Morgana yells, alerting the other thieves about what just happened. Ryuji shouts “For real?!” and Futaba just stares at the bridge, trying to see Ren. The other thieves say nothing, even Akechi is shocked that Ren let himself fall from the Mona-copter to face Dr. Maruki.

Suddenly, Sumire feels nauseous and rushes towards the edge of the helicopter. Whether it’s due to her fear for Ren or the dizzying helicopter shaking a lot (probably both), she clutches her stomach and throws up over the edge. Ryuji, who had a complete view of the whole event, murmurs an “Eww! Gross!” before being slapped in the back of the head by Ann. Haru rushes over to pat her back as Sumire continues to empty her stomach over the edge of the helicopter. Haru pulls out some tissues and gives some to Sumire, who wipes her face and mouth with them before throwing the used tissues off the edge.

“I’m sorry,” Sumire says, “It was probably gross of you to see that. And thank you, Haru-senpai, for helping me.”

“No worries, Sumire-chan!” Haru reassures.

“Yeah,” Ann chimes in, “You shouldn’t be apologizing. It’s just that someone was being mean about it.” Ann proceeds to nudge Ryuji in the ribs.

“He-hey! What was that for?!” Ryuji asks. Futaba tells him to stop talking.

“It seems like you're very stressed. You’re worried about Ren-kun, right?” Makoto asks.

Sumire nods. “He promised me that he won’t do anything reckless today. And then… he just falls towards the Palace… where Maruki is. I’m afraid that even if he manages to survive that fall and his ordeal with Maruki… he might die from the collapsing Palace…” Sumire explains.

“It’s alright, Sumire,” Akechi reassures. “I doubt that my rival will die that easily.”

“Akechi’s right!” Morgana said. “Joker will be able to survive. We just need to be ready to rescue him as soon as possible.” Morgana then starts heading downwards towards the bridge where Maruki and Ren are on.

Meanwhile, Ren lands on the bridge, without breaking any of his limbs, miraculously. He looks up at Dr. Maruki, who’s barely standing.

 _I hope Sumire is alright. She looked like she had a heart attack after I let go like that._ Ren thinks, before letting out a sigh. _She’s probably freaking out right now, I’ll definitely have to apologize to her later,_ Ren realizes.

“Sorry to cut your flight short like that,” Maruki says, interrupting Ren’s thoughts. “…This place is done for. Along with the entire reality I dreamed of.” Maruki drops his staff. “I… have lost. Even if I were to try that fight again, I’m sure I’d only lose again. So I know… this is going to sound pretty stupid. I’ve been holding this all in for so long, just hiding it from myself… So please…” Maruki starts to smile a little. “Help me kill every last one of my regrets. You’re the only one I can ask to help me with this, Ren-kun.”

“Very well,” Ren says, before nodding. “I’m here for you, after all.” After saying that, Maruki’s golden majestic robes fade away into his lab coat, while Ren’s mask fades away as well.

“The disappearance of my palace— of the entire Metaverse— is drawing near.” Maruki says. “Seems like neither of us can summon our Personas anymore. Let’s begin.”

Maruki then shouts, “I gave up everything! Everything! So, why?!” He then punches Ren in the face.

“Life isn’t fair, Maruki! Accept it!” Ren shouts back, then punches Maruki in the face again as well.

“Why… Why Rumi!?” Maruki screams, then hits Ren in the face again. This time, Ren can’t think of anything to say, so he just hits Maruki back again.

“A reality… where no one suffers…” Maruki manages to say, then punches Ren one last time.

“A reality… where no one suffers… is also one where no one grows,” Ren points out, then punches Maruki in the face.

After being tired and wounded from their three past fights, Maruki and Ren are both barely standing. Maruki screams, trying to keep himself up, but eventually falls on one knee, and then on the bridge. Maruki reaches out with his right hand and grabs a snowflake falling from the sky.

“I’m done, I get it now,” Maruki says, almost without energy. “All thanks to you.” After his quote, the bridge begins to collapse underneath Maruki. However, Maruki doesn’t try to resist or get off the bridge; he just lies there, closes his eyes, and accepts his fate. Then, the bridge collapses, causing Maruki to fall, along with his glasses, which fall off his face into the void, never to be seen again.

“Dr. Maruki!” Ren shouts, then scrambles to run over to where Maruki is, barely catching him on time. Maruki opens his eyes and is shocked to see Ren holding him, struggling to keep him from falling.

“Come on,” Maruki says softly, “I said I’m done. Please… let go of my hand.”

“Maruki,” Ren starts to say, “There’s no way I’m going to let it end like this. We can go back to the true reality, together, and you can rebuild your life again. You can’t just throw away your life now, Maruki!”

Maruki is stunned. “Why, Ren? Why are you doing this?”

Ren replies, “You’re not a bad person, Maruki. If you think about it, you and I both have the same goal— to end people’s suffering. It’s just that we have different ways of approaching said goal. I’m not letting a person die here, Maruki, especially if they have good intentions at heart.”

“Your eyes are as bright and honest as ever…” Maruki compliments. “You keep your head up, no matter what.” Maruki looks down. “I must have always been… afraid… Afraid that you and I wouldn’t wish for… the same reality…”

Ren’s grip starts to falter. He can feel Maruki’s hand start to slip away. _Shit!_ Ren thinks, trying desperately to prevent Maruki from falling.

Suddenly, he hears the Mona-copter and Sumire’s voice. “Senpai!” she shouts. Ren smiles, gaining a determined look on his face, regaining his grip on Maruki.

“So bright…” is all Maruki manages to say before passing out. Ren manages to still remain conscious and sees Sumire jump out of the Mona-copter mid-flight and rush towards him. The Mona-copter lands on the collapsing bridge, where Ryuji comes out as well. Ryuji helps Ren lift Maruki onto the bridge, where Ryuji then carries Maruki back to the copter. Sumire helps the injured Ren back to the Mona-copter. After barely managing to fit both Ren and Maruki into the copter, Morgana takes off, with the bridge collapsing fully not too long after.

Inside the Mona-copter, Ren is leaning against the back of the wall, with Sumire next to him. He remembers about what he did, the promise he broke, and begins to apologize. “I’m sorry, Sumi, I didn’t mean to worry you falling off like that—” Ren starts, but then is cut off by Sumire hugging him.

“I know that you had to do that,” Sumire says. “I forgive you. But please, don’t do that ever again.” Sumire’s voice drops to barely above a whisper. “I don’t want to lose another person precious to me again.” 

Ryuji interrupts. “Yeah, she was worried sick, man. Literally.” Ren just raises an eyebrow in confusion and hugs back Sumire.

“First Ryuji nearly dies in Shido’s Palace to get the boat, then Ren let’s go of the rope to confront Maruki on his own…” Futaba says. “Inari, you better not be jumping off to save all of us by yourself next time! I don’t want to have a heart attack like Ann and Sumire!” Yusuke just nods in understanding.

“The Metaverse is disappearing. So you won’t have to worry about your boyfriends doing stupid stunts anymore.” Akechi points out, with slight venom in his voice.

“Again, it sounds like you’re just saying that because you’re the only one here who doesn’t have a girl yet, Akechi,” Ren says, then proceeds to kiss Sumire on the cheek. “Well, except for Morgana, of course.”

“Hey!” Morgana protests. “Lady Ann is— Oh wait, Ryuji…” Morgana sighs. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Hey, Akechi, we can just set you up with Makoto or Haru or somethin,” Ryuji says. “And we can get Morgana a cat girlfriend as well!”

Makoto and Haru both shoot Ryuji a dirty look. “Do you really need to say that when we’re _both_ here?” Haru asks, with a hint of murderous intent in her voice.

“Shit!” Ryuji says. “Don’t kill me!” The thieves laugh at Ryuji’s expense.

Shortly afterwards, the Phantom Thieves exit Maruki’s palace. However, Ren notices he’s back in the Velvet Room, in his Shujin school uniform, with Lavenza and Igor present as well. _What happened?_ Ren thinks.

Igor chuckles, and then says “Welcome back, Trickster.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this chapter!
> 
> Any criticism, whether positive or negative, will be appreciated (this is my first fanfic and I haven't really written anything so anything would be appreciated). Also, if there are any grammatical, spelling, or technical errors, feel free to point them out in the comments so I can edit them.
> 
> Wow, this is definitely the longest chapter I've written so far. The other 3 chapters so far were 8, 9, and 10 pages respectively, and this one's 16. While that's probably not a lot compared to other fanfic writers out there, I'm surprised that I was able to write this much for something that happens over the course of 1 day in the game. I'm also really glad that I split the final parts of the Maruki's Palace arc into two chapters, because a 26 page chapter is definitely going to be hard to edit on AO3. I'm also starting to think of making more of these one-shots, probably in a separate fic (because they will be from my own ideas and not necessarily a retelling anymore). I might write that new work alongside this one, I don't really know yet. I have some other ideas in mind as well, but I still need to plan everything out still.
> 
> Anyways, once again, thank you for reading this chapter, and I hope to see you in the next one!


	5. Aftermath of Maruki's Palace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will cover the aftermath of Maruki's Palace. Specifically, it will cover from right after the disappearance of the Metaverse to February 13, which is the day Joker gets out of prison.  
> Also, shoutout to YasuRasu for his idea in the comments! I tried to incorporate it the best I could.
> 
> As always, I don't own Persona or any characters, obviously, and I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.

Ren, confused, looks at Igor and asks, “Igor? What am I doing here?”   
Igor just chuckles. “Magnificent.”

Then suddenly, Ren sees someone he did not expect to arrive in the Velvet Room: Akechi, who just suddenly appeared next to him.

“Akechi is here too?! Igor, tell me what’s going on!” Ren demands.

“Igor, I’m also confused as to what I’m doing here as well,” Akechi says.

Ren and Akechi step out of Ren’s prison cell and walk over to where Lavenza and Igor are at.

“We have indeed witnessed your decision. Not only have you taken back mankind’s future for itself, but you’ve also reestablished our reason for existence. While reality had been wholly distorted, your actions have guided it back towards what it ought to be,” Lavenza says to Ren.

“What it ought to be?” Ren questions.

“That is correct. Time itself cannot be rewound, but every past event will revert to the event that should have occurred instead,” Lavenza says.

Ren realizes what Lavenza is saying. “So, I have to turn myself in to have Shido punished for his crimes, and Akechi will…”

Akechi butts in. “You figured that out just now? I would have expected you to figure it out sooner, Ren.”

“I’m just confirming.” Ren says.

Lavenza remains silent, then speaks up again. “Everything will return to how it should be… Everything. There are no exceptions.”

Ren just remains there silent.

“Have your regrets begun?” Lavenza asks. Akechi just stares at Ren, with a look daring him to say that he regretted his actions.

“No, I’m still sure. There was no alternative,” Ren says confidently and immediately, not even noticing Akechi’s stare. Akechi breaks his stare, grinning with approval.

“Choosing such a path must not have been easy for you… For that, you have our utmost respect, Ren Amamiya,” Lavenza states. “And for you as well, Goro Akechi, for your sacrifice.”

Akechi nods. “It was no problem. As for you, Ren, I expect to have a rematch with you one day. Maybe in the afterlife if it comes to that.”

Ren laughs. “You still expect to have a rematch, even after all that’s happened? I’ll still carry your glove then, Akechi. Not that I’ll throw it away.”

Akechi replies, “Very well then, Ren. Hopefully we’ll meet again. And not when you’re dead.”

Ren nods and he notices that he and Akechi are starting to disappear from the Velvet Room, going back to their original reality.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Phantom Thieves are back at the stadium, having returned from Maruki’s Palace.

“Didya see them?!” Ryuji asks, referring to Akechi, Ren, and Morgana, who all disappeared.

“Where could Mona, Akechi-kun, and Ren be?” Ann asks.

“This is our original reality, right?” Ryuji asks.

“I believe so, yes…” Sumire responds.

Yusuke pulls out his phone. “The Meta-Nav is gone. We don’t even have a way to check anymore…”

“At any rate, there’s no point worrying about it here.” Makoto says. “We should work all of this out somewhere else.”

“You’re right— now that I think about it, we’ve been out all night too…” Futaba says. “So let’s go to Leblanc.”

The Phantom Thieves begin to leave, all except for Sumire, who notices a piece of paper on the ground, which appears to be a newspaper. Sumire is about to read the headlines, but is called over by Futaba. She then goes with the other thieves, putting the newspaper in her pocket.

Sojiro is sitting on the counter at Leblanc, reading a newspaper. He’s also wondering where the hell Futaba went last night. Suddenly, he’s greeted by the Phantom Thieves coming in through the front door of Leblanc.

“I’m home…” Futaba says, expecting a lecture from Sojiro.

“You didn’t tell me you’d be out all night… You should’ve at least gotten in touch with me about it.” Sojiro scolds with a frown.

“I’m sorry Sojiro…” Futaba apologizes.

“We’re the ones who kept her out so late— we should be apologizing for her,” Ann says, defending Futaba.

“And we’re all back so early in the morning… We’re awfully sorry.” Sumire says.

Sojiro suddenly smiles. “Stop apologizing so much. Being worried isn’t exactly on my list of favorite activities, but I assume you had a good reason for it, right?”

“Umm… Have you seen Ren-kun at all lately?” Makoto asks, changing the subject.

“Ren? What are you bringing him up for?” Sojiro questions.

“You know what his deal is right now, Sojiro?” Futaba asks with a sad look on her face.

“Well, yeah… He’s been locked up since last year.” Sojiro explains. The thieves all looked shocked and confused.

“Locked up?!” Ryuji asks in disbelief.

“What’s going on?” Ann asks.

_ Senpai? In jail? What did he do to deserve this? _ Sumire wonders.

“What’re you guys talking about…” Sojiro says, thinking that they’re just messing with him. “Well, I was gonna ask you that, but now I’ve gotten a strange feeling that I’ve been seeing him until fairly recently… Anyways— why don’t you all take a seat before I go over his situation?”

The thieves sit down at the tables and booths in Leblanc as Sojiro goes over Ren’s situation in juvenile hall. Everything about how Ren turned himself into the authorities to bring Shido to justice. After the explanation, the thieves look very down. Sumire looks like she’s about to cry, before she lets a few tears stream down her cheeks.

“So, Ren’s in juvenile detention…” Yusuke sums up.

Sojiro says, “Well, I need to stock up on a few supplies before I open up shop… Feel free here to hang out while I’m out.”

“Thank you…” Sumire replies. Sojiro leaves the cafe.

“So, this is our original reality, right? Or, are we in a different one right now?” Ann asks.

“You know, these unexpected changes could actually be the end results of our actions in our own reality…” Makoto points out. “Remember how Ren was originally planning on turning himself in for the police?”

“Then Akechi-kun did it for him instead…” Haru says.

“But that took place in Dr. Maruki’s reality— which means Ren’s currently…” Yusuke says, finally piecing together the events for the rest of the Phantom Thieves.

“So, everything that would’ve happened if it weren’t for Dr. Maruki… actually happened?” Ann asks.

“Ya know, what y’all are saying’s startin’ to make sense,” Ryuji says. “But in that case, in the real reality— Uh, I mean, the reality we’re in right now… What happened to Morgana and Akechi?”

“Don’t say it…” Futaba pleads. “Just like my mom, now Morgana’s—” Yusuke is about to get out of his seat and comfort Futaba, but before he can do so, Morgana appears in front of the door.

“Did someone say my name?” Morgana asks.

“This shit again?” Ryuji asks angrily.

“Recycled gags suck! Why did you always hafta get us all worried like that?!” Futaba scolds.

“How did you get here?” Haru asks.

“Looks like it really was just the Metaverse me who disappeared. Eventually I woke up in Shibuya. Getting all the way back here took some time.”

“Cmon, don’t scare us like that,” Ryuji says with a grin. “Oh, but wait— does that mean Akechi’s…” Morgana seems like he’s about to say something, but remains silent.

“What is it Mona-chan?” Haru asks.

“Well… about him…” Morgana says, but then trails off. Everyone understands what he means.

“No… I can’t believe Akechi-san’s really…” Sumire starts.

“What the hell…” Ryuji says. “So he was fighting that hard, knowin’ he was going to disappear the whole time…”

“So, Ren’s incarcerated, and Akechi is…” Yusuke starts off. “I thought I’d braced myself for the decision we made, but… this truly is a harsh reality.”

“We all decided to live our real lives and look to the future from here… But even so…” Sumire says, “I… I just can’t accept Ren-senpai being stuck behind bars, after all he’s done for me. Why don’t we try to help him somehow?”

“Nice, I’m impressed with the idea!” Morgana compliments.

“Yeah! We won’t put up with this injustice!” Ann says confidently.

“But, what can we do to actually help him get out of there?” Haru asks.

“I remember Sis telling me a while ago…” Makoto starts. “In order to overturn a sentence, you need definitive evidence that proves the subject’s innocence.”

“So what yer sayin’ is, we just gotta find that evidence… right?” Ryuji says.

“Then we’re on the case!” Sumire says.   
“There’s no time for us to waste.” Yusuke reminds. “We’re going to show off what the Phantom Thieves are capable of— one last time.”

“That’s right! Let’s go!” Futaba chimes in, full of energy.

“We’re gonna save our leader, no matter what it takes!” Ryuji says, as a final rally call.   
“Yeah!” all the thieves say in response, then begin planning right away.

“Alright, Ryuji and I can try to find the name of the woman who accused Ren,” Ann volunteers.

Ryuji agrees. “Yeah, finding that woman shouldn’t be too hard.”

“I can try to hack into the recordings of that night when Ren was arrested! That might help you two!” Futaba says.

“I will make posters in an attempt to convince people of Ren’s innocence,” Yusuke decides.

“I can help Sae with trying to find more evidence to prove Ren’s innocence,” Makoto suggested.

“I can try using my father’s contacts and see if we can get some more info as well,” Haru proposes.

“As for me, I can ask my coach to take some time off from gymnastics. In the meantime, I’ll try to look for more evidence of Ren’s innocence. Hopefully we can have him back in around ten days.” Sumire says hopefully.

Suddenly, Makoto starts smiling. “In 10 days, Sumire? I see…”

Sumire is confused. “What’s wrong with that?”

Makoto explains. “There’s nothing wrong with that, obviously. It’s just that in 10 days, it’s Valentine’s Day. So, it seems likely that you would want him back by then.”

Sumire can feel her face turning as red as a tomato. “W-What?! I-I mean, of course I want him back him s-soon…” Sumire stutters.

“Yes, I agree!” Haru joins in. “It would be wonderful for you two to spend a special romantic day together, don’t you think, Sumire-chan?”

“Y-Yes,” Sumire says, barely above a whisper, as her face is still as red as before.

“Huh, Valentine’s Day…” Ryuji says, trailing off, but this time he’s slightly facing Ann.

“Ah, yes, Valentine’s Day,” Yusuke repeats. “What a romantic holiday.”

“W-What?! Don’t expect anything, Ryuji! I-I mean… Ugh! Nevermind.” Ann manages to sputter out, her face turning slightly crimson.  _ Now I understand how you feel, Sumire, _ Ann thinks.

At the same time as Ann, Futaba is also blushing (more than Ann, but still less than Sumire). “Stupid Inari…” is all Futaba manages to say.

“Anyways, we’re all missing the point here,” Morgana reminds. “First priority is getting Ren out of jail, then the romantic stuff comes after.”

“Geez, cat, it sounds like you’re still jealous,” Ryuji says. But before Morgana can say anything, Ryuji continues. “But Morgana is right. We should start working on freeing Ren as soon as possible.” The thieves nod in agreement.

For the next eight days, the thieves are working tirelessly to help Ren get out of prison. Ryuji and Ann are able to find the name of the woman who accused Ren, thanks to the recordings that Futaba provided. They notified Makoto about it to further strengthen their case. Haru manages to get in touch with some of the Okumura business contacts and sees if they can help in proving Ren’s innocence. Yusuke makes some posters explaining Ren’s innocence and posts them around the city. The posters also show Mishima’s contact information so people who are willing to help can put their signatures on Mishima’s petition. In addition, many of Ren’s other confidants are coming to help. Mishima goes out into the streets everyday asking for signatures on his petition and collects the signatures from those who contact him through Yusuke’s posters. Sojiro defends Ren when being interrogated by some of the probation officers. Takemi plans to announce Ren’s name as the key figure in the completion of the medicine in the next conference. Kawakami rallies the other Shujin teachers to write an official opinion from Shujin to object to Ren's arrest. Chihaya leads a protest against the police for arresting Ren. Ohya writes a special article dedicated towards Ren and in proving his innocence, gathering testimonies from witnesses. Yoshida makes speeches to persuade other politicians of Ren’s innocence in his assault charge. Shinya mentions Ren to the regulars at the arcade, and Hifumi defends Ren and mentions his help in an interview. Finally, Sumire, Ren’s lover and closest ally, tries to convince her coach to allow her to take some time off of gymnastics.

“Please! He doesn’t belong in juvenile detention at all!” Sumire pleads, while bowing to Coach Hiraguchi. “I swear I’ll make up for the missed practice. Please, let me take a short break!”

Coach Hiraguchi doesn’t respond.

“Ah… Coach?” Sumire asks.

“…No deal,” Hiraguchi says.

“But…” Sumire starts to protest, her face showing the mixed feelings of confusion, sadness, and disappointment.

“I’ve got a few connections up my own sleeve that’ll probably be more useful than simply doing your own legwork. I’ll also try calling around to check if any of my other trainees have some useful info. But, if I do this for you, it means you’re practicing as scheduled, got it? I’m sure it’s what he’d want for you, too.”

Sumire smiles in gratitude. “Thank you, Coach!”

The good news arrives on February 12. Makoto tells them that according to Sae, Ren should be released on February 13, in the afternoon. In joy and excitement, Sumire tells her coach the good news. Later during practice that day, Sumire is so excited for Ren’s return that Coach Hiraguchi has to make her stay 15 minutes late after she couldn’t focus on the routines. As Sumire heads into bed for that evening, she can’t sleep, not because of nightmares, but because she’s still too excited for her senpai’s return.

After 9 days of solitary confinement and in juvenile hall, Ren suddenly appears in the Velvet Room, once again. He notices he’s wearing his normal clothes and walks up to Igor and Lavenza. However, before he can ask anything, Lavenza starts speaking.

“You escaped the prison of the heart only to be imprisoned in reality. What an ironic outcome, your wish for others’ happiness prevailed over your own. However… I feel as though all is finally well. In the end, you willingly chose the correct path. More importantly, you never compromised your values for your own well-being.”

Suddenly, a blue tarot card slowly falls downward towards Ren’s hand. It spins and Ren notices the arcana on it: The World.

“The final arcana you have acquired is: ‘The World.’ It is the power for an individual to stand on their own two feet, swayed by none. That power shall fuel the hope shared amongst your friends and yourself, to strive towards a better future. With ‘The World,’ you are no longer without a place to belong, and will never trudge a path alone again.”

Ren closes his fist around the card, allowing it to give him newfound power. He looks back at Igor, who speaks as well.

“My own duties end here as well. You were truly a remarkable guest,” As Igor finishes his sentence, he starts to slowly fade away along with Lavenza.

“Thank you, Igor, and you as well, Lavenza,” Ren says. Igor and Lavenza smile as they fade away. The Velvet Room disappears as well, leaving Ren in an empty void. However, a butterfly flies past him, which he presumes to be Lavenza. As the butterfly flies away, Ren is sent back to reality.

Suddenly, Ren was released from his cell in the afternoon. Ren was ordered to go to meet with Sae, who wished to speak with him. Ren was then led into a special room, with a glass barrier separating him from Sae.

“Long time no see,” Sae starts off. “We met last on Christmas Eve, right? …Mm, nevermind. It’s nothing.” Sae pauses. “I have two great pieces of news for you today. First, we finally managed to prosecute Masayoshi Shido. He’ll likely be found guilty. I’m grateful for your cooperation with the trial. Your testimony proved to be very useful.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Nijima-san,” Ren states.

“To be frank, it almost seemed hopeless at one point,” Sae says, “But thanks to the civil protests, some of the more indecisive prosecutors came over to our side. It will likely be some more time until the hearing begins, but this is the first step to true change. The only charges right now are for breaking election laws, breaking funding control laws, and bribery. I knew that proving the Metaverse’s existence would be difficult, but I still find myself dissatisfied. Shido did admit to all of his crimes though, including everything you know about. Now for the other piece of good news. As of today, you’ll be free to go.”

Ren nearly falls off his chair when he hears that. “Really? I get to leave?” he asks in disbelief.

“Yes,” Sae says. “Shido’s confession brought light to the truth of your case. We were able to prove the innocence in the original assault charge that led to your arrest. Your sentence will no doubt be rescinded. You’re a free man.” Sae leans in towards him. “The others did everything they could for you. Bringing in the woman who was the victim in your case as a witness was the turning point. To think they’d be able to track down someone involved in a case from well over a year ago… That wasn’t all… An unbelievable amount of support has come in from various other places as well.”

“Thank you,” Ren says in gratitude. “For helping me.”

“Don’t thank me, thank your friends. They’re the ones who truly helped you get out of prison,” Sae says. Continuing, she states, “Regardless, the righteous Phantom Thieves are gone. All that remains is for us adults to lead society in the right direction. Then again, I wonder if you’d believe what I say.”

“We made a promise,” Ren says.

“Thank you. Still I’m glad I was able to save you in court. I’ve never felt so happy in my life. I’m not sure how to put it, but saving your future meant more to me than my own career. I feel like you even taught me how to live.”

“That… wasn’t my attention,” Ren says, rubbing the back of his neck.

“That’s not true,” Sae says with a smile. “By the way, there’s something that’s been on my mind. What did the Treasure of my world turn out to be?”

“Why do you want to know?” Ren questions. “And, to be completely honest, I don't remember, since we were in such a hurry that day.”

“I suppose it doesn’t matter now one way or the other.” Sae says. “There is… one more thing. I haven’t even told Makoto about this. But I realized something after meeting all of you. My most prized ‘treasure’ is the justice I use to protect those important to me. Makoto helped show me that as well. Once the Shido case is settled, I’m thinking of quitting my job and becoming a defense lawyer. I wanted to reform the system, but I’ll have to leave that to someone else. Going forward, I want to enact justice not for myself, but for the sake of others.” Sae stands up. “Well then, I need to submit the paperwork for your release. Thank you again for everything you’ve done.”

“It was no problem,” Ren says.

“See you later then,” Sae says. Ren nods. She then walks away.

After changing into more comfortable and suitable clothes, Ren stands in front of the jail, holding a blue prison bag with all of his belongings. Suddenly, Sojiro drives by in his car and stops in front of Ren.

“Hey. You kept me waiting,” Sojiro says. “To be honest, I really didn’t wanna come, but Futaba just wouldn’t stop bugging me. Anyways, you’re a free man now, aren’t ya?”

Ren nods.

“It’d look bad on me if you did something again under my watch. All right, let’s go home. It’s cold, so get in quick.” Sojiro says. “And besides, you wouldn’t want to keep your girl waiting, right?”

Ren instantly thinks of Sumire, and how worried she probably was because of him,  _ again _ . “Well, I better start making my apology now,” Ren says.

Sojiro laughs. “Glad to see that you’re starting to become a gentleman.”

Ren heads inside the car, riding shotgun with Sojiro. When they head out into the street, they’re stuck in traffic again.

“It’s not moving at all…” Sojiro observes.

“Due to the railway incident this morning, widespread delays have impacted the various lines and…” the newscaster reports on the radio.

“Another accident, huh…” Sojiro says thoughtfully. “Heh. Reminds me of that day back in April. Remember when we went to introduce you to the school?”

“Oh yeah,” Ren says.

“It’s been a whole year since then, huh… Thinking back, I was pretty awful to you, throwing you in that storage room all by yourself. Then again, soon you’re gonna be…” Sojiro shakes his head. “You made some great friends here. You better thank them when we get back, all right?”   
  


Sojiro and Ren finally arrive at Leblanc. Once Sojiro parks his car, they both get out and stand in front of the door. Ren looks at the CLOSED sign in front of Leblanc, but Sojiro gives him a nod, telling him to open it. As he does, he’s greeted by Futaba, his younger sister, who rushes out to greet him.

“Woo-hoo! Namaste!” Futaba shouts. The other thieves follow behind her.

“Woah.” Sojiro says, referring to the amount of people in Leblanc.

“You did it!” Ryuji congratulates.

“It has been a while,” Yusuke notes.

“Not bad. You look fine,” Ann comments.

“I’m glad you seem well,” Haru says.

Morgana comes out as well. “And the best for last: me! So we meet again, Ren! It’s good to see you.”

“Same here. It’s good to be back,” Ren says, but then notices something. “Where’s Sumire?” he says, his tone being slightly disappointed.

Makoto responds, “She’s running a little late from practice. She’ll be here any moment now.”

Right on cue, Sumire walks in through Leblanc’s door. “I’m here! Sorry I’m late.” She then notices Ren, who looks at her, with an apologetic look. Before he can apologize, Sumire suddenly rushes up to him and kisses him passionately on the lips. Ren, who’s initially shocked, returns the kiss to her, with just as much passion. They stay like that for what seems like forever, while Ryuji and Morgana laugh in the background. Ann looks like she’s about to squeal, while Yusuke begins framing them with his fingers. Futaba pulls out her phone and starts recording. Makoto and Haru just smile. And Sojiro says his signature “Hoo boy.” Eventually, the two break apart after a while.

“I missed you so much…” Sumire says, hugging him. Although her face is slightly red, she doesn’t mind.

“Me too,” Ren replies, hugging her back.

“All right, that’s everyone!” Ryuji says.

“Let’s get a table now,” Makoto suggests.

The thieves sit around Leblanc. Sumire sits next to Ren, while Yusuke and Futaba sit on the opposite side. Ryuji and Ann are sitting near the booths, along with Makoto and Haru. Morgana sits on Haru’s lap. Sojiro heads out for groceries for their party.

“Man! It went well, yeah?” Ryuji asks.

“I’m so glad we didn’t give up,” Makoto says.

“This was certainly worth the effort,” Yusuke chimes in.

“We didn’t know what to do once you were gone,” Ann says. “But then we realized something. Even if we don’t have the Metaverse or special powers, we can still change reality.”

“If we didn’t do that at the very least, we’d be betraying the entire reason as to why we stood up against Maruki,” Morgana adds on.

“We’ll oppose the injustices of this reality with our own reality… That’s what we agreed upon,” Sumire says.

“And ever since then, we’ve been doin’ just that— busting our asses tryna get you outta the clink.” Ryuji explains.

Haru nods. “It wasn’t just us. Everyone who believed in you joined us.”

“Thanks to that, we’ve got our leader back!” Futaba exclaims.

“Thank you. You saved me,” Ren says.

“Right back atcha,” Ryuji says.

“They treated you fine, right? Actually… did you lose some weight?” Ann asks.

“It would be understandable. I’ve heard the food in prison is actually quite foul,” Yusuke notes. “So what did you eat?”

“Was it bugs? Fermented mackerel? Or maybe durian?” Futaba asks.

“You’re missing the point,” Makoto says.

Ren laughs. “It wasn’t that bad. I mean, it was pretty awful though.”

“Eh, you’re gonna get some good food soon enough though. Boss is out getting stuff for our party. It’s time to celebrate!” Ryuji says. Suddenly, they hear a rumbling stomach.

Haru giggles. “I guess you really were hungry, Ren-kun.”

Ren shakes his head, knowing it was coming from Sumire, who is looking down in embarrassment.

Sumire apologizes, “Sorry about that…”

Yusuke smiles. “Ah, it was Sumire.”

Futaba nods. “Don’t worry, Sojiro will be back soon. Just hang in there!”

“Oh yeah!” Ryuji exclaims, then he frowns. “Sorry for not mindin’ my own business. But we heard from Boss… you’re going home next month? Can’t you stay here? I mean, sure, we proved you not guilty, but people are still going to label you there, right? Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable going back?”

“I still want to spend my third year with my parents,” Ren says. “You know, to make up and stuff.” Everyone lowers their heads in both understanding and disappointment.

“What’s the matter? We were all excited a moment ago,” Makoto asks. “How about this? Since our leader is leaving, the Phantom Thieves are also being disbanded. So, today we can celebrate Ren’s release and commemorate our disbandment.”

“What kind of commemoration is that?” Ann asks.

“I was serious when I said it,” Makoto says, looking slightly hurt.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Haru says.

“I guess you’re right!” Ryuji says. “We just need to double our excitement for today!”

“About that— there’s something I need to tell you guys,” Morgana announces. “I’m planning to go with Ren when he goes back to his hometown. He’s pretty special after all. And plus, we need someone to make sure he doesn’t turn back into a delinquent!”

“I think we need to be more worried about making sure you’re not a stray cat,” Ren says, shooting a look at Morgana.

“Well yeah, I suppose there’s that too,” Morgana says. “Either way, I want you to add my farewell party to the one we’re having tonight! That way we can triple our excitement, like Ryuji said.”

“I dunno, is that important?” Ryuji asks.

“You’re not leaving until another month or so, right?” Haru asks as well.

“It is far too early for a farewell party,” Yusuke points out.

“It’ll just muddy the purpose of this celebration,” Makoto adds on.

“Ngh… How dare you!” Morgana exclaims. “Sumire, you’re at least on my side as well, right?”

“Uh me?” Sumire asks, then looks at Ren. “Well, how about we call this a second-round welcoming party?”

“That’s the ticket!” Morgana exclaims. “My re-welcoming party! Nobody can complain about that! So, for the food at my party… I demand sushi! Sushi!”

Sojiro walks into the cafe. “Man, you guys’re loud. I could hear you from outside.”

“Chief! They’re being so mean to me!” Morgana complains.

“Noisy as always,” Sojiro remarks. He then walks by Morgana and places something in his mouth. “I can’t understand what you’re saying, you know. Here.”

“No, I would much prefer to have something like sushi than something like—” Morgana is cut off by the taste of the food. “Hmprh? …This is delicious!”

“Sheesh… what an assertive little guy. I wonder where he got that from,” Sojiro asks.

“Heh, that’s just part and parcel of who I am— the one, the only: Morgana.” Morgana replies.

“Stop tryin’ to talk so big. You’re just a cat now,” Ryuji points out.

“Shaddup! I don’t need to hear that from some dumb ape!” Morgana says.

“What was that?!” Ryuji asks. “This ‘dumb ape’ stole your girl, cat!”

“…You’re vulgar, Ryuji,” Morgana responds.

“Why don’t you go disappear again?” Ryuji says.

“Ugh, shut up!” Ann scolds the two of them. “We’re supposed to be celebrating, not fighting!”

“They’re at it again,” Makoto says.

“You guys never change, huh,” Sojiro remarks.

“Yeah, that weirdo Inari,” Futaba says.

“Who are you calling a weirdo?” Yusuke demands.

“Don’t worry, being weird is a sign of your individuality,” Sumire points out. She then suddenly moves closer to Ren and puts her head on his shoulder. “And Futaba-san, you shouldn’t be so mean to Yusuke-senpai. We all know you like him already.”

Futaba blushes a deep shade of red. “Sumire! You didn’t need to say that.”

Ren, however, is more worried about something else. “Does Boss know yet?”

“Yeah, Futaba told me,” Sojiro said from the kitchen. “I think he’ll be a good boyfriend to her. But, you’ll help me get him if he mistreats her, right?”

Ren nods. “Yusuke, if you do anything to her, us two will make sure you’ll be hunted down, with no mercy. Understand?”

“Y-Yes, Ren,” Yusuke says, with a hint of fear in his voice. Futaba just laughs.

“Good,” Ren says. “I know you’re a good person, Yusuke, so I doubt it’ll come to that.”

“Alright, now that we got the drama out of the way, it’s time to kick this party off!” Ryuji announces.

“Very well,” Yusuke replies.

“Sojiro! I want sushi!” Futaba declares. Sojiro just shakes his head.

The party kicks off at Leblanc. Everyone is having a good time, whether that be through eating the sushi and curry Sojiro made, drinking Leblanc’s signature coffee, chatting, or playing Tycoon. Eventually, the sun sets and each of the thieves have to part ways. Once Ren helps Sojiro wash the dishes, clean the store, and rearrange the furniture, Ren prepares to get ready for bed with Morgana.

“Delicious food, fluffy sheets…” Morgana starts off. “I guess home is what you make of it, even in this abandoned building of all places. Hey, take care of me like this back home too, okay?”

Ren nods. “I will.”

“So, uh… I wanted to ask you something. Remember the tail end of Maruki’s Palace, where I was actually flying?”

“What about it?” Ren asks.

“It wasn’t a dream, right?”

“It definitely wasn’t. Although, I’m wondering why you’re asking.”

“I mean, it’s not anything important.” Morgana stops, scratching himself. “But I still can’t figure out how that was possible in the first place. So, this is just a theory, but… Don’t you have that star Jose gave you?”

“It’s right here,” Ren says, pulling out the star. “Wait, it lost its luster.”

“This was shining the last time you looked at it, right?” Morgana asks.

Ren slowly pieces together what Morgana’s theory is. “Yeah. So if I’m guessing correctly, your theory is that Jose’s star allowed you to turn into a helicopter. It makes no sense for people to suddenly believe that cats can turn into helicopters.”

Morgana nods. “That’s correct. Or that’s what I believe anyway. Anyways, the Metaverse is gone, and that only happened in the most extreme emergencies, so I doubt it would happen again.”

Ren puts the star back into his pocket. “Still, it was pretty cool when you turned into a helicopter. But yeah, I think that was just a one time thing.”

Meanwhile, Sumire is getting ready for bed and for Valentine’s Day. After putting the chocolates into the refrigerator, she sits down and begins to try to make the packaging for the chocolates tomorrow. As much as she would like to spend some time with Ren after his release from prison, she needs to work on her present. After getting some tips from Yusuke (who agreed to keep it a secret from Ren), she finally managed to produce the packaging. Hoping that it’ll be enough to impress Ren, she places it on her desk when suddenly Shinichi walks in.

“Oh Sumire, I was wondering what those chocolates were in the refrigerator. But I see now,” Shinichi says. “You’re preparing chocolates for Valentine’s Day tomorrow, right?”

Sumire blushes. “Y-Yes Dad, it’s for tomorrow.”

Shinchi nods. “I knew it. They’re for Ren, right? I honestly would be surprised if those weren’t for him, considering how much you talk about him.”

Sumire blushes even more. “Y-Yes, they’re for Ren-senpai. I hope he enjoys the chocolates tomorrow.”

“Well, I’m no chef, but they certainly look great,” Shinichi compliments. “I’m sure he’d be blown away by them. Just make sure to not forget them when you leave tomorrow night, alright? You wouldn’t want to give him the nice packaging only for him to find no chocolate inside.”

“I already put a bunch of reminders on my phone. There’s no way I’m letting myself mess this up,” Sumire says. Shinichi nods and exits the door. Taking out her phone, she begins to type a message to Ren.

Suddenly, Ren’s phone starts to buzz. He looks at it and notices it’s a text message from Sumire. He opens it right away.

Sumire (Private Conversation):

Sumire: I’m so glad you made it back. I’m sorry I couldn’t stay with you more after the party.

Ren: Me too. And it’s fine, Sumire. Everyone has plans.

Sumire: Thank you. If it’s okay, can I see you tomorrow night?

Ren: Let’s talk at my place.

Sumire: Thank you! I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Good night, Senpai.

Ren: Good night, Sumi.

Morgana speaks up. “You do realize that it’s probably because tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day, right?”

“Oh shoot! I totally forgot about that!” Ren says.  _ So that’s why she wanted to see me tomorrow. _ Ren thinks, while putting the phone away.

Morgana sighs. “You never change, do you? Come on, let’s go to bed. You’re working at the shop from tomorrow onward, right?”

“Yep, let’s go to sleep now.” Ren agrees. “I can’t wait for tomorrow already, though.”

Soon, Ren turns off the lights and both Morgana and Ren drift off into a peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this chapter!
> 
> Any criticism, whether positive or negative, will be appreciated (this is my first fanfic and I haven't really written anything so anything would be appreciated). Also, if there are any grammatical, spelling, or technical errors, feel free to point them out in the comments so I can edit them.
> 
> So, I was definitely not expecting this chapter to be almost as long as the previous chapter. However, it does span over the course of around ten days, so I guess it makes sense. Also, I tried putting Akechi into the Velvet Room, as YasuRasu suggested, but I definitely kind of struggled a little, so please put your feedback in the comments. Also, shoutout to Theroonco for giving me permission to use the artwork for my next fanfic (the link to the artwork is in his own fanfic, A Surprise Summer Date)! I'm still trying to come up with ideas for it (it's taking MUCH longer than expected), so I probably won't post the first chapter until this fanfic is done.
> 
> Finally, on a completely unrelated note, I was wondering about something while I was writing this chapter. You know how there are certain weeks where fanfic authors write about their favorite ship with different prompts (Shumako week, Shuharu week, Ryuann week, etc.)? Is there a Shusumi week as well? Or has it not been created yet? I mean, it would make sense if it hasn't since a lot of people still haven't finished the game yet by this point. However, if it does exist, it would be nice if someone told me about that in the comments.
> 
> Anyways, once again, thank you for reading this chapter, and I hope to see you in the next one!


	6. Valentine's Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will cover Valentine's Day from Persona 5 Royal. There are spoilers, like usual. Also, this chapter may be slightly NSFW towards the end (nothing explicit happens, but I still changed the tags just in case), so if you don't want to read it, it might be best to skip it (and let me know of your opinion in the comments).
> 
> As always, I don't own Persona or any characters, obviously, and I hope you enjoy reading this chapter!

As soon as Ren woke up, he was already excited for Sumire’s plan to visit that evening. After getting ready for school, Ren sat down at the Leblanc table to eat the usual curry and coffee Sojiro made for him. Sojiro noticed Ren’s sudden excitement and decided to ask him about it.

“Woah, kid, slow down. I don’t want you choking on the food,” Sojiro reminded Ren. “Also, you seem pretty excited and jumpy today. What happened?”

Ren decides to slow down his eating. He then pauses and then replies, “Oh, it’s just that Sumire’s coming over this evening.”

“Ah, I see,” Sojiro says, then smiles. “Well, I’ll make sure to close shop up early today then. Huh, that reminds me, Futaba said that she’s probably going to hang out with that boyfriend of hers. What was his name again?”

“Yusuke Kitagawa,” Ren replies. “And I’m kind of glad that she’s hanging out with Yusuke. That way, she can’t spy on me and Sumire. Though, now that I remember, I did remove all of the bugs in the cafe, so I don’t think I’ll have to worry about that.”

“I wonder if she has the house bugged…” Sojiro wonders. “Anyways, you need to head over to the train station soon, unless you want to be late.”

Ren finishes the remaining curry and thanks Sojiro for the food. He then grabs his bag with Morgana inside and proceeds to head out the door.

The rest of the school day goes on forever in Ren’s mind. He suddenly finds every lecture boring and can’t help but stare at the clock. When the bell finally rings, he rushes out the door, bumping into Ryuji near the school gates, almost knocking him to the floor.

“Oh shoot! I’m sorry!” Ren apologizes.

“Nah man, it’s fine,” Ryuji says. “But why are you in such a hurry?”

“Oh, it’s just that I have to help Sojiro with the cafe today. And plus, I can’t wait for Sumire to come over today.”

“Oh, you mean for Valentine’s Day? Ann wanted me to head over to her house today. I think Futaba and Yusuke are meeting up later today as well.”

Ren nods.

“Do you think you’ll be getting chocolates?” Ryuji asks.

“I mean, yeah? Probably,” Ren said. “Though, I’m fine with whatever she brings. And I’m more excited to see her, not the chocolate.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s true. Man, I can’t believe that this is the first year where I actually get real chocolate! I used to only get it from my mom and occasionally at the store, where they just gave it out for free.”

“Yep. Have a great time this evening, Ryuji,” Ren says with a smile. “Anyways, I gotta go help with Boss later today. See ya later.”

“You too! See ya!” Ryuji says. They then both go their separate ways.

Once Ren gets to Leblanc, Sojiro asks Ren to get ready to help him out. After checking for Futaba’s bugs again (just to make sure), Ren spends the rest of the day helping Sojiro out with the surprising influx of customers coming into Leblanc.

Meanwhile, once Sumire heads home, she changes into her clothes for the Valentine’s Day date. After taking the chocolates out of the refrigerator, she puts them into the teddy bear packaging. After making sure she has everything necessary, she puts the chocolates in her bag. Shinichi and Sumire’s mother walk in again to make sure everything is alright.

“You got everything for your date tonight?” Shinichi asks.

“Yep!” Sumire says, with an excited look on her face. “I’m supposed to meet with Ren-senpai in the evening, so I’ll be leaving now.”

Sumire’s mother smiles. “I can’t believe that our little girl is growing up so fast. Already making chocolates for her special someone on Valentine’s Day! Have fun, Sumire!”

Shinichi smiles as well. “Oh, by the way, we don’t mind you staying over his house tonight. Just let us know if you are planning to, okay?”

Sumire blushes slightly, but then regains her composure and says, “Ok, thanks Dad! I’ll make sure to let you know. Bye, Dad! Bye, Mom!”

Sumire’s parents wave and Sumire exits the house, heading over to Leblanc.

Once the last of the customers have left, Sojiro and Ren start cleaning up and get ready to close up shop. Ren is still washing the dishes when Sojiro notices something.

“Oh right, today’s Valentine’s Day. No wonder there were so many guys bringing in girls here,” Sojiro says, then smiles. “Is that why your girlfriend is coming over today?”

Ren finishes washing the dishes and dries his hands. “Yep, she’s coming over because of Valentine’s Day. She should be here any moment now.”

Sojiro chuckles. “Y’know, when I was your age, hoo boy…” He is then interrupted by the sound of someone entering Leblanc.

“I didn’t know you were still working… Sorry for stopping by so late,” Sumire apologizes.

“It’s alright, Sumi,” Ren assures.

Sojiro grins. “Here, I’ll leave the store to you. Enjoy yourselves.”

“I’ll be heading over to Haru’s house for today and tomorrow morning, since Futaba’s hanging out with Yusuke,” Morgana says. “Have fun!”

Once Sojiro and Morgana leave, Ren makes coffee for himself and Sumire and they sit at a table together.

“That’s considerate of him… I hope I’m not imposing,” Sumire says. “I know I already saw you before, but I really wanted to have some time with you today… So I decided to stop by after practice today.”

“I’m glad to see you,” Ren responds. “I’m glad I’m back.”

“Same here. I had so much I was going to say once I finally got to talk to you. But now that you’re here, and I can see your face for myself… None of it seems so important anymore.”

“I really am sorry,” Ren says. “About me jumping off the helicopter and then turning myself into the police. I’m sorry about all of that.”

“It’s alright. I understand why you did what you did. Though I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried,” Sumire reassures. “On another note, I brought you something.”

Sumire then pulls out a container in the shape of a teddy bear holding a heart. Ren’s mouth is left open, shocked by the cuteness of the container and how well-crafted it was. “Thank you. I’m touched,” Ren says.

Sumire smiles. “Normally I would find that a little melodramatic, but I’m glad to hear it. Really.” Sumire then frowns. “Just checking, but… we’re back into the real world, right?”

“Yep, we’re back into the original reality,” Ren confirms.

Sumire pauses, then speaks again. “Oh, I wanted to say, Senpai, I… ever since that day, I’ve finally been living for myself. As myself. And from now on, I always will.”

“That’s great to hear, Sumi,” Ren says. “I’m glad that you’re starting to accept yourself for who you are.”

“Thank you, Senpai!” Sumire says. She suddenly blushes and then asks, “S-So, um… May I sit next to you?”

“Of course,” Ren says, patting the seat next to him. He scoots over towards the wall, allowing Sumire to head on over to his side of the table.

“You’re going back to your hometown soon, yes?” Sumire asks.

“Yep. I’ll definitely be lonely, considering how most of my friends there won’t speak to me even after my name is cleared,” Ren said. He then smiles and asks, “Do you want to come with me?”

“Hee hee. It’s sweet of you to ask,” Sumire says, knowing that he’s joking. “But I’m going to keep working hard. Wherever you are, I’ll make sure you hear about me.”

“I’ll try to come if I can,” Ren responds. “That way, I can cheer you on in person.”

“Thank you, Ren-senpai. She always said she performed best when thinking about someone she loved…” Sumire says, referring to Kasumi. “I think I finally understand Kasumi. What she was trying to say. When I think about you, I get the feeling that the competition is going to go just fine.”

“Wait, do you mean…” Ren trails off, but he feels that he already knows the answer.

“I think you know what I mean,” Sumire says, leaning into Ren, smiling and blushing at the same time.

Ren smiles. “Yep, I do. Though I could hear another love confession, though…”

“I love you,” Sumire says, confidently.

“Me too. I love you,” Ren replies back.

“Anyways, with that aside, do you want to eat your chocolate now? It is Valentine’s Day, after all,” Sumire notes.

“Sure, if you insist,” Ren said. He then opens the bear shaped packaging and takes one of the perfect chocolates and pops it into his mouth. Sumire is staring at Ren, waiting for him to make a comment. To her relief, he seems to be enjoying it. He takes another one of the chocolates, but this time he puts it in front of Sumire’s mouth.

“You should try your chocolates, Sumi. They’re really good,” Ren says.

“Thank you, Senpai! But are you sure I can have some of them? They were made for you, after all,” Sumire asks.

“That’s true, but I don’t see any reason why I can’t share my chocolates with my adorable girlfriend,” Ren points out. “And plus, I think it would go well with the coffee as well.”

“Ok, then,” Sumire said, then let Ren put the chocolate in her mouth. Her eyes then widen in shock at how delicious it tastes.

“Wow, it’s really good!” Sumire exclaims. “I honestly wasn’t expecting them to turn out this good.”

“I mean, of course it would be,” Ren said. “You just need to have more confidence in yourself.”

Ren and Sumire spend the next few minutes or so eating Sumire’s homemade chocolates and Ren’s signature Leblanc coffee. Eventually, the container is empty, with no more chocolate inside.

“Hey, Sumi, you don’t mind if I keep this, right?” Ren asks. “It’s just too cute to throw away! And plus, I don’t want all of your hard work going in the trash.”

“Of course Senpai! It is yours, after all,” Sumire says. She suddenly remembers something and decides to ask Ren about it. “Oh, S-Senpai, you don’t mind me asking you something, right?”

“Go for it,” Ren replies.

“Well…” Sumire starts, a blush starting to form on her face. Barely getting the words out, she speaks again. “C-Can I s-stay over tonight? M-My parents gave me permission already…”

“Sure, I’d love to have you stay over tonight,” Ren said, then smiles sheepishly. “I was actually going to ask you that right now.”

“O-okay then,” Sumire says softly, still blushing. “Can we go upstairs now?”

“Sure,” Ren said. “Just let me wash the cups and I’ll be upstairs soon.”

“I can help you,” Sumire offers.

“Sure. Let’s get to work,” Ren says, as he and Sumire both pick up their cups. After they clean the cups, Sumire holds the teddy bear container as Ren begins to turn off the lights and lock the doors. He then goes to Sumire, who pulled out her phone to notify her parents about her staying over. Suddenly, he flashes his signature Joker grin. Sumire looks confused for a second until Joker suddenly picks up Sumire in a bridal carry and proceeds to carry Sumire up the stairs.

“Wha-what!? R-Ren!” Sumire exclaims, with her face fully red.

“Sorry, Sumi,” Ren replies, “I couldn’t help it.”  _ Wait, that’s the first time she called me Ren… _ Ren realizes. Once they are in the attic, Ren puts Sumire down, who puts the teddy bear container on one of Ren’s shelves.

“O-Oh, umm… Senpai?” Ren nods, signaling for Sumire to continue. “I um… didn’t think to bring any suitable nightwear. I guess I was too excited about staying over…”

“Oh,” Ren said. “Well, I guess you can wear some of my clothes, I guess? Let me try to find something that’ll fit you.” Ren begins to go through his box of clothes until he’s able to find a black oversized shirt and some green sweatpants, similar to his own nightwear. He then gives it to Sumire. “Hopefully those should fit. You could change in the bathroom downstairs.”

“Ok. Thanks, Senpai!” Sumire says, heading down to the bathroom to change. Meanwhile, Ren changes into his own nightwear and prepares to get ready for bed.

Eventually, Sumire comes back up wearing his shirt, with her folded clothes in one hand and the folded sweatpants in the other. Sumire’s hair is also untied, with the ribbon on top of the folded clothes. Ren, for a brief moment, feels his face go red and his heart race due to how cute she looked.

“Oh, did they not fit you?” Ren asks. He then turns to the box, about to go and look for some pants that could fit Sumire.

“Oh, Ren, it’s fine,” Sumire said. “I think the shirt will do fine for tonight.”

“Alright, you can take the bed, Sumi. I can sleep on—”

“Actually, Senpai, I was wondering if we could share the same bed,” Sumire asks. Ren notices that she was able to say that without stuttering or blushing. “And… I have something I want to do before we go to sleep today.”

“Sure, what is it?” Ren asks, curious as to what she’s talking about.

Sumire suddenly blushes, confusing Ren. She then digs into her purse and pulls out a plastic package, with something that he was  _ definitely _ not expecting to see tonight. He also found himself very glad that he removed Futaba’s bugs as well.

“I-Is that…” Ren starts, having a full on blush upon seeing the object. “…What I think it is?”

“Y-Yes…” Sumire says, blushing much harder than Ren was. “I bought it after school today at the drugstore… People definitely noticed what I was buying.”

Ren asked, “Is that another reason why you wanted to stay over, tonight?”

“Y-Yes… I-I must look like some kind of freak bringing this up.” Sumire said, looking down in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, Senpai. We don’t have to do it if you don’t want to—” Sumire is suddenly cut off by Ren suddenly kissing her deeply and passionately. 

“I-I want this, too,” Ren says after breaking away from the kiss, still slightly red. The couple suddenly found themselves on the bed, with Sumire pinned down on the bottom and Ren on top, almost like a blanket. They then have a very romantic and intimate evening, until the last of their energy is gone. With only the sheets keeping them somewhat decent, Sumire and Ren cuddle on the bed.

“T-Thank you for doing this, Ren…” Sumire says. “I love you.”

“Me too, Sumire. I love you as well,” Ren says. “We probably have to get up early tomorrow. I definitely don’t want Boss walking in on us. Or possibly even worse, Morgana. If one of us wakes up early, we can just wake the other one up.”

“Alright, sounds like a plan. Sweet dreams, my Joker,” Sumire says, deliberately using Ren’s codename.

“Sweet dreams, Violet. Good night,” Ren says. Ren turns off the lights and the couple falls fast asleep.

Ren is the first one to wake up the next morning. He quickly changes into his clothes, and then notices that Sojiro is already there, based on the sounds coming from the kitchen. Morgana most likely hasn’t come back yet, as he can't hear any meowing and Morgana usually goes to the attic first, so if he came they would be caught already. He rushes to wake up Sumire.

“Oh! Good morning, Senpai!” Sumire says cheerfully, getting out of the covers and proceeding to kiss Ren on the cheek.

“Good morning, Sumi,” Ren says, but for some reason he’s looking away, with a red face. Sumire is confused until she notices Ren’s clothes and looks down at herself wearing nothing, the sheets having slid off her body.

“A-Ah! C-Can you pass me my clothes, Senpai?” Sumire asks, her face red from embarrassment, hiding back under the covers to protect her modesty. Ren hands her the clothes but then explains to her how Sojiro is already at Leblanc. Then, both of them hear the door open, most likely Morgana.

_ Oh shit, _ Ren thinks to himself. If he goes up into the attic while Sumire is  _ like that _ … Well, even he doesn’t even want to think about what will happen.

“I’ll distract Morgana and Sojiro, while you change,” Ren says. Sumire nods and begins to change as quickly as she can. Ren rushes down the stairs.

Morgana and Sojiro look at Ren. “How was your date with your girlfriend?” Sojiro asks.

“Did you have fun?” Morgana asks.

“Yeah, it was great,” Ren replies. “We definitely had a lot of fun. Thanks for closing up shop early, Sojiro. And thank you for giving us some privacy, Morgana.” Ren bends down to pet Morgana, who purrs.

“It was no problem,” Sojiro says, waving his hand. “Oh yeah, where’s your girlfriend? Did she stay over?”

“She’s up in the attic, right now. She should be coming down any moment now,” Ren says.

Right on cue, Sumire heads down the stairs in her Shujin uniform. However, her legs were slightly wobbly, due to the previous night’s events. Luckily, only Ren seems to notice.

“Oh, hello Sojiro-san,” Sumire says, then bows. “Thank you for allowing me to spend time with Ren yesterday.”

“Again, it was no problem,” Sojiro says with a smile. “It was Valentine’s Day, so of course you two would want to do something. Futaba also seemed to have a great time yesterday too, if you were wondering.” He then serves two plates of curry for both Ren and Sumire along with two cups of coffee. “Eat up, you two. You still have school today, so it’s best that you two head to the train station quickly.”

Ren and Sumire nod, thank Sojiro for the food, and then quickly devour the food in front of them. After saying goodbye to Sojiro and having Morgana jump into Ren’s bag, the trio head out of Leblanc together towards the train station.

“Oh yeah, when did you bring your Shujin uniform?” Ren asks.

“I brought it from home yesterday. It was in my bag.” Sumire replies. “Though I still forgot to bring nightwear…”

“It’s alright. I’m kind of glad you forgot, actually. You look really cute in my clothes,” Ren says.

“T-Thank you Senpai,” Sumire says. Unfortunately for Ren, she doesn’t blush.

The couple continue to chat until they enter the Shujin gates.

“Well, looks like we have to go to class now. I’ll see you later after school, ok?” Ren says, then suddenly grins and says jokingly, “Good luck with gymnastics practice today!”

Sumire initially has an embarrassed expression on her face as well as a blush, but quickly recovers. “Thanks, Senpai! I’ll see you after school!” Sumire then heads to her class.

“Does she have something special for gymnastics today?” Morgana asks.

“No, I just wanted to give her encouragement,” Ren half-lies.  _ Actually, on second thought, she probably won’t be sore for that long, so there’s no need to worry, _ Ren thinks. Morgana seems to accept his answer and proceeds to hide back in the bag. Ren then starts to head over to his class as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this chapter!
> 
> Any criticism, whether positive or negative, will be appreciated. Also, if there are any grammatical, spelling, or technical errors, feel free to point them out in the comments so I can edit them.
> 
> I'm sorry for the long update wait time. I know it has been almost a week since I last updated and I apologize for that (I was too busy reading other fanfics on AO3). I should probably have a more consistent schedule starting from this week. I also have some more new ideas for my upcoming fanfic (again, I know I only talk about it in the notes sections and haven't posted anything yet, but the first chapter will be up, eventually), so I guess that's a plus?
> 
> As I said earlier, I know that the ending of this chapter was slightly NSFW, so let me know about your opinion in the comments below (did/didn't like it, too much/too little, want more/less in future fanfics, etc.). Normally I wasn't going to put it, but I was going through some of the older Shusumi fanfics on AO3 and that segment was inspired by Astro986's A Thief and a Dancer Series (I think it's one of the first fanfics posted under the Shusumi tag). After reading some of their stories, I decided to have some of those elements implemented into my story as well (mostly from Parts 3-5).
> 
> Anyways, once again, thank you for reading this chapter, and I hope to see you in the next one!


	7. White Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will cover White Day from Persona 5 Royal. There are spoilers, like usual. Also, like the previous chapter, this does contain some NSFW content (not explicit) towards the end. So if you don't want to read it, it might be best to skip it (I would skip the paragraph that talks about Ren going up to the attic in Leblanc). Again, please comment about any opinions you have about this kind of stuff, and I hope you enjoy reading this chapter!
> 
> Also, as always, I don't own Persona or any characters, obviously.

About a month has passed since Valentine’s Day. Ren is currently thinking about what happened over the course of the past month as he washes the dishes in Leblanc. The former Phantom Thieves had decided to move on with their lives, with each of them going on in their own separate paths. Sumire had texted him later that day, telling Ren about her plans for the future. She even sent him a photo of her at gymnastics and the photo of them at New Year’s Day, which Ren immediately saved onto his camera roll.

As for Sumire’s and Ren’s relationship, they spent a lot more time together as the dates grew closer to Ren having to return to his hometown. Sumire came over to Leblanc as often as she could (she still had a gymnastics meet coming up and had to practice often), and they would often go up into the attic, often talking together. Occasionally, it would lead to full on making out, leaving love-bites on each other’s bodies.

Ren was broken out of his thought process by Sojiro, who suddenly came up to him. “Oh yeah. Are you ready for tomorrow?” Sojiro asks.

Ren finishes up washing the dishes and asks, “What about tomorrow?”

“White Day. That’s tomorrow, right? You got some chocolates from the red-haired girl on Valentine’s Day, right? And White Day’s when you return the favor. The men do the gifting,” Sojiro reminds. “What’s your plan? You’ve at least got some kind of present ready, right?”

 _Shit! White Day is tomorrow! How could I forget?!_ Ren mentally chastises himself. “I forgot, Boss… What should I do?”

Sojiro sighs. “Get it together kid. Sometimes I don’t know if you’re fearless or just plain careless… Fine. Listen up. I’ll give you the recipe for the ultimate date.”

“That’d be great. Thank you, Boss,” Ren says, then gets ready to pay attention to what Sojiro has to say.

“Woah, the chief has an ultimate date plan?! I better listen in too, just in case,” Morgana says.

“First off… You’re going to need a gift. This won’t work without one,” Sojiro says. “Can’t go wrong with flowers. Just make sure you buy them before the date. You gotta present them near the end. Surprise her. So you can’t let her see you buying them on the date, got it?”

“Yep, makes sense, Boss,” Ren says. “I think I know what kind of flowers to get her.”

“Aha… Gotta give them flowers, huh? I gotta take notes…” Morgana states.

“Next, think about where you’re taking her. You gotta find somewhere with the right atmosphere, but it’s gotta be peaceful…” Sojiro points out.

“Should I take her to the aquarium in Shinagawa?” Ren asks. “I think that fits the description you’re saying.”

Sojiro nods. “That sounds like a good place. Glad to see you’re catching on quick, kid.”

“The aquarium’s a good place for a date… I see,” Morgana says, mentally taking notes as well.

“Now, once the date part’s over, you gotta take her out to dinner. Somewhere nice, too,” Sojiro says, but then frowns. “But it’s kinda last minute to make reservations. All the fancy places get booked pretty fast around White Day.”

“Okay, right, too late to make any reservations— wait, what!?” Morgana yells.

“Shit…” Ren mumbles to himself, before facepalming himself. “I’m screwed…”

Sojiro sighs again, wondering how Ren could have messed up again. “…Dammit, I don’t usually do this, but… I know a place. Can’t guarantee anything. I bet they’re full up, too. But you might get an edge if you mention my name.”

“Wow… Amazing! The chief has connections!” Morgana exclaims.

“Now, once you’re at dinner, you get to talking, enjoying yourselves… That’s when you give it to her.”

“Give her what? Oh! You mean the bill?” Ren jokes, while smirking.

Sojiro doesn’t catch on and sighs. “…Look, kid, when you’re there, you’re supposed to give a gift to her and it sure ain’t going to be the damn—”

Ren breaks out laughing. “Boss, I was joking. I know I’m supposed to give her the flowers.”

Sojiro smiles and nods. “Couldn’t tell if you were being serious there… Well, I suppose it’s good you were paying attention. Once you’re at dinner, it’s the perfect time to surprise her. That oughta do it. Just follow the plan, and you’re safe.”

“Thanks, Boss,” Ren says. ”I really appreciate it.”

“Wow! This plan is fool-proof!” Morgana exclaims. “Leave it to the chief!”

“No problem, kid. Well, I taught you my secrets. The rest is on you. Do your prep, and make those reservations.”

“Got it,” Ren says.

“Good luck,” Sojiro says, smiling. “Well, on that note, I’m going home. Now it’s up to you.”

“You should start prepping right away,” Morgana reminds. “Don’t waste the chief’s advice, all right?”

“You didn’t need to remind me, Morgana,” Ren says.

After Ren is in his nightwear and ready to go to bed, he pulls out his phone from his pocket to call to make a reservation at the diner.

“Let’s see… The reservation comes first. You remember that restaurant Chief told you about?”

Ren nods and dials the number. He’s greeted by a friendly shopkeeper on the phone.

“Thank you for calling, sir. Were you looking to make a reservation?” the shopkeeper asks.

“I was hoping if I could reserve a table for two on the 14th,” Ren says.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I’m afraid we are fully booked for tomorrow,” the shopkeeper says.

“White Day is crazy… huh?” Morgana notes. “But don’t worry, Ren! All you have to do is mention the chief!”

Ren nods and says on the phone, “Oh I see. Sojiro Sakura told me to call.”

The shopkeeper seems stunned. “You-You’re a friend of Mr. Sakura’s? My apologies, sir. If you could just wait for one moment…” There’s a brief pause of silence before the shopkeeper speaks again. “Thank you for your patience. You wanted a dinner course for two on the 14th? We will have a table waiting for you shortly.”

“Yep, that’s correct,” Ren says. 

“Could I ask for your name and contact information?” Ren then gives his name and contact information.

“Thank you, sir,” the shopkeeper says, who then ends the phone call.

“Dang! The chief has some serious clout!” Morgana notes.

“Yep. Maybe they’re friends or something?” Ren speculates.

“Probably. Anyways, your dinner plans are locked in. Now you just gotta get the flowers, and then it’s off to the aquarium and dinner!” Morgana reminds. “You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow, so it’s best you get some sleep as soon as possible.”

Ren nods and agrees with Morgana. He then turns off the lights and lays down onto his bed, sleep claiming him almost instantly.

The next morning, Ren wakes up early. After he gets changed and ready for school, he goes down to the stairs to Leblanc, where Sojiro is waiting with a plate of curry and a cup of coffee ready for him. As Ren thanks Sojiro for the food and begins to eat, Sojiro asks him some questions.

“So, kid, did you get the reservation?” Sojiro asks.

“Yeah, like you said, they were full,” Ren says. “But then they gave me the reservation the moment I mentioned your name, Boss. You have some serious connections! Is he a friend?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say it’s something like that,” Sojiro replies. “You didn’t forget the plan I told you yesterday, right?”

“Of course not!” Ren exclaims. “I’m planning to get the flowers right after school today. Then, I take her to the aquarium for a date and then we go to the diner. Then, I wait for the perfect moment and then give it to her. And then, I suppose we could go back to Leblanc, that is if you give me permission, of course.”

Sojiro chuckles. “Glad to see you remembered all of that, kid. As for Leblanc, I’ll close up shop early. I trust you enough to not burn down the cafe.”

“Thank you, Boss,” Ren says in gratitude, finishing up the last of his curry. “I gotta go now, can’t miss the train. See you later!” Sojiro nods and Ren exits the cafe.

 _Futaba’s probably going to be out for a while, too. And she did ask me if her boyfriend could stay over in her room for the night. Man, are these kids growing up quick…_ Sojiro thinks to himself.

Ren barely pays attention in school. Luckily, since he has the top marks in his class, the teachers don’t really mind. After going over his plan in his head for what seemed like the tenth time for him today, the bell finally rings, dismissing the students from class.

“Today’s the day! Let’s go get those flowers!” Morgana reminds. “I think there’s a florist somewhere in—”

“Shibuya,” Ren cuts off. “I know what place you’re talking about.”

Morgana nods. “I’m glad to see you already on top of things already. Let’s go!”

As Morgana and Ren head out of Shujin, they come across Ryuji.

“Oh, hey man, what’s up!” Ryuji greets. “You look like you’re in a hurry. You gotta go somewhere today?”

“Yeah, gotta get a gift for White Day,” Ren says. “Don’t tell Sumire, please. Did you get something for Ann?”

Ryuji sighs. “Nope. I mean, I already had everything planned and ready to go a long time ago, with my mom’s help. But I’ve got nothing for a present. I mean, Yusuke’s making paper origami flowers or somethin for Futaba, but there’s no way I’m gonna make something like that.”

“Wow, wasn’t expecting you to prepare that early, Ryuji,” Morgana says. “How about you come with us to the florist shop in Shibuya? Ren’s going there to get flowers for Sumire.”

“Well, it won’t be as personal as I wished it to be,” Ryuji says, “But I don’t have a choice right now. Let’s go, then!”

“Oh, are you two going somewhere right now?” Sumire asks as she walks up to them.

“Yeah, we’re just going to the arcade to play some games,” Ryuji lies.

“Oh, I see,” Sumire says. “Well, I have to go to practice now, so I’ll see you later, Ryuji-senpai and Ren-senpai!”

When Sumire walks away out of sight, Ren sighs in relief. “Nice cover story, Ryuji. Was almost afraid that you were going to tell her where we are actually going.”

“Thanks, man,” Ryuji says. “I already know you wanted it to be a surprise. Hey, but do you actually want to head to the arcade to play some games? We do have some time to kill, after all.”

“Well, Sumire just said she had to go to practice, so that’s going to take a while, and Sojiro did say that I didn’t have to help him out at Leblanc today… So yeah, why not?”

After playing a few rounds of games at the arcade, Ren and Ryuji take the train to the Shibuya underground mall, where they then head over to the florist shop.

“Oh, Amamiya-kun? What brings you here today?” Hanasaki, the florist asks.

“I’m here for two surprise presents,” Ren says, gesturing to himself and Ryuji. “Can I have a bouquet of violets, and…”

“I’ll have roses,” Ryuji says.

“I see! Okay, leave it to me!” Hanasaki says, and leaves to prepare the flowers.

After a while, she returns with two bouquets of flowers. “That should do it. I tried to keep it as simple as possible. Okay, that comes out too…”

“Hold on!” Morgana says, then slips Ren some cash. “Let me take care of this one. You’ve been taking care of me yourself, so I need to express appreciation for you, too. And as for Ryuji, well, he’s been preparing a lot for his date with Lady Ann to make her happy… so this will be my way of expressing gratitude.”

After Ren pays for their flowers with Morgana’s cash, Hanasaki says, “Good luck! I’m rooting for you!” Ren and Ryuji express their thanks and leave.

“Thanks for letting me tag along, Ren,” Ryuji says. “And thanks, Morgana, for paying for the flowers.”

“No problem, man,” Ren says. “Good luck on your date with Ann.”

“Thanks, Ren! Good luck on your date with Sumire! But I gotta go now to get ready for my date. See you two later!”

“See ya, Ryuji!” Morgana and Ren say. Ryuji nods and then leaves.

“Okay, now you’re all ready for the date. Are you ready to call Sumire now?” Morgana asks. “Oh, and don’t worry about me. I’m a gentleman who knows his manners. I’ll be staying at Haru’s in the meantime and I’ll come back right before you leave Leblanc, like last time.”

“Yeah, I’m ready to call now. Thanks, Morgana. I appreciate it.” Ren says.

Meanwhile, Sumire has just headed home from her gymnastics practice. Sumire’s mother and Shinichi greet her when she comes through the door.

“Oh, hello, Sumire,” Shinichi says. “It’s White Day today. Does your boyfriend have any plans for today?”

“Not that I know of…” Sumire says, with a slight hint of disappointment in her tone. Then suddenly, right on time, she gets a call from Ren. She picks it up right away, with an excited smile on her face, as if she won the lottery.

Call Started:

“Yes, Yoshizawa speaking.”

“I want you to come to Shinagawa.”

“Right now? Of course, that’s fine! I just got out of practice today, so I’ll head over right away. See you there!”

“Thanks, Sumi! I’ll see you there soon.”

Call Ended:

“It seems your Senpai has some plans for tonight,” Sumire’s mother said in a slightly teasing tone. “And if you want to stay over like Valentine’s Day, we’re totally fine with that. Ren seems to be a trustworthy boyfriend.”

“Thank you, Mom!” Sumire exclaims. She excitedly rushes over to her room and begins packing her Shujin uniform for tomorrow and all of the other things she needs.

“Well, it seems our little daughter has grown up,” Shinichi notes. “I’m glad that Ren is taking care of her so well. Maybe we should invite him to dinner one day?”

“That seems like an excellent idea!” Sumire’s mother says. “We could probably tease her in front of her boyfriend as well!” The two parents laugh. Sumire then walks out of her bedroom door, fully changed into her winter attire and ready to leave.

“Have fun, Sumire!” Sumire’s mother says in a cheerful tone.

“Thank you, Mom! Bye Mom! Bye Dad!” Sumire says. She then waves to her parents as she leaves the house.

After heading back to Leblanc to change into his more casual wear and dropping off Morgana at Haru’s house, Ren goes on a train to the aquarium. There, he meets Sumire at the entrance.

“Looking good, Sumi,” Ren compliments. “Are you ready to head inside the aquarium?”

“Thank you Senpai!” Sumire says, with a faint blush on her face. “Let’s head inside now!”

As they head into the aquarium, Ren can’t help but seem to stare at Sumire occasionally. The awed look she had at the many kinds of fish was just too adorable and cute for him. Eventually, they were reaching towards the end of the exhibit, where Sumire stopped to speak.

“There are so many different kinds of fish! I’d never have realized just from seeing them from a distance. They’re all so… beautiful,” Sumire observes. “Come to think of it, I remember when we had a family trip to the aquarium when I was younger. Kasumi was so excited to see the fish, but apparently I was so scared I cried the whole time.”

“How is it now? Are you still scared?” Ren asks, in a slightly teasing tone.

“Oh, I’m having fun now,” Sumire reassures.

“That’s good,” Ren says. “And plus, you seemed pretty awed by the fish, so I doubt you’re scared now.”

“That’s true,” Sumire says. She then pauses for a moment. “Um, Senpai… If I’m wrong, you can just tell me, but… is this a date for White Day?”

“That’s correct,” Ren says. “Of course I would spend White Day with you.”

“I knew it! I’m so glad I got to spend it with you, Senpai!” Sumire exclaims. “Since we’re on a nice date like this, though… we might as well have fun!”

Ren can tell that Sumire seems pleased. “Yep. I definitely had a lot of fun at the aquarium. But, we’re nearing the end of the exhibit now.”

“That’s true,” Sumire says. “But, still, thank you for taking me out today. I’ll be even more motivated for tomorrow’s practice.”

“Wanna stick around longer?” Ren asks. “I do have a table reserved for us at a restaurant for dinner tonight.”

“What?” Sumire asks, shocked. She then smiles with a noticeable blush on her face. “Well… I suppose I’ll take you up on that.”

Sumire and Ren then head over to the restaurant that Ren reserved for them. They were seated immediately by the staff after Ren mentioned that he reserved a table and was a friend of Sojiro Sakura. There, they have a full course meal with each gourmet dish being prepared with the best-quality ingredients. The portion sizes even ended up being too large for Ren to finish by himself, so he gave some of his food to Sumire, who was able to finish everything. Once dinner is finished, Sumire and Ren chat for a while.

“This restaurant is beautiful… I’m impressed, Ren-senpai,” Sumire compliments.

“I hope you enjoy it,” Ren says.

“Of course!” Sumire exclaims a little too loudly. “Oh, right, inside voices… Sorry about that. Anyways, love is so strange. I feel so happy when I’m with my boyfriend, but even tiny failures get me so depressed. As long as I got you, though, I feel like I can get through anything.”

“Me too. I feel the same way,” Ren says.

Sumire smiles, blushing at Ren’s words. “Ren-senpai… I’m glad we’re on the same level. Um, so to speak.” Suddenly, Sumire excuses herself from the table and heads over to the bathroom.

 _When should I give her the gift?_ Ren thinks. _Maybe when she comes back?_ As Ren is still trying to figure out the optimal time to give her the violets, Sumire comes back from the bathroom.

“Sorry about that,” Sumire apologizes.

“It’s alright,” Ren says. “There’s no need to apologize, Sumi.”

Before Sumire can say anything, suddenly the lights go dim and the announcer speaks on the loudspeaker. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us on this special day. We wish you all an unforgettable evening, with one last finishing touch from us.”

“Huh? Looks like something is happening…” Sumire notes.

Suddenly, the curtains begin to rise upward, revealing an incredible view of Tokyo through the windows. Both Ren and Sumire stare in shock.

“It’s gorgeous…” Sumire says.

 _Now’s the perfect time to bring out the violets!_ Ren thinks. “I want you to have this. It’s a gift,” Ren says, before digging into his bag and pulling out the violet bouquet. He presents them to Sumire and hands her over the violets.

“What?” Sumire asks, surprised. Her face goes as red as a tomato as she accepts the flowers. “Thank you… so much… I never saw this coming… But I’m so, so happy.”

“Surprise,” Ren says, grinning.

“I’ve never been surprised like this… I keep falling in love with you all over again,” Sumire states.

“Thank you,” Ren says. “It really warms my heart. And I love you too as well, Sumire.”

“Thank you. It seems you put a lot of effort into this date. But I shouldn’t have expected anything less, Ren-senpai,” Sumire compliments. “You take care of everybody. And you always put their happiness over everyone else. But I don’t want this to be one-sided. One day, I want to take care of you like you do with me.”

“Are you proposing to me?” Ren asks, teasingly. “Isn’t it kind of early?”

Sumire blushes again. “I might be… Though, I guess you’re right. It probably won’t happen for a while.”

“Well, I’ll definitely look forward to it,” Ren says.

“Thank you! It’ll definitely happen eventually, so please be patient!” Sumire exclaims. “Okay… Maybe I’m getting a little too worked up about it. Um… we still have some time left tonight, so… Can I stay with you just a little longer? Maybe at Leblanc?”

“Already planning to head over to my place, Sumire?” Ren teases, causing Sumire to redden a little more. “And you were the one who asked me to be patient. But, I definitely won’t turn down your request to stay with me, Sumi.”

“Thank you Senpai!” Sumire says. After Ren pays the bill, the couple leave holding hands heading towards Leblanc.

Eventually, the couple arrive at the cafe. When they walk in, they notice Sojiro is there waiting for them.

“Hey, kid,” Sojiro greets. “I was waiting here until you came back since Futaba wanted some alone time with her artist boyfriend at my house. But now since you’re here, I’ll be leaving now. Make sure to lock up, alright?”

“Yes, Boss,” Ren replies. “Thanks for leaving Sumire and me in private.”

“No worries,” Sojiro says, then smirks. “Have fun, you two.” Sojiro heads out the door to go back to his house.

“Sumire, you can wait for me up in the attic,” Ren says. “I’ll be up after I finish closing up shop.” Sumire nods and goes up the attic. Ren proceeds to turn off the lights in the cafe and then locks the door.

Eventually, Ren heads up to the attic and notices Sumire, sitting on his bed, with her hair down.

“So, umm… Senpai?” Sumire asks sheepishly. Ren nods his head and looks at her, signaling for her to continue.

“Umm…” Sumire says, with her face turning as red as her hair.

“Sumire?” Ren questions.

“I-want-to-do-what-we-did-on-Valentine’s-Day-and-I-couldn’t-stop-thinking-about-it-almost-every-time-before-I-went-to-sleep-for-the-past-week!” Sumire shouts at the top of her lungs.

 _What_ , Ren thinks. For a second, he wasn’t sure if he heard her correctly. But then, the way she was fidgeting, how red her cheeks had suddenly become, and her heavy breathing essentially proved that what he heard was right. To be honest, he was still honestly surprised that she was the one who initiated the event on Valentine’s Day. He couldn’t understand how someone like her, who seemed so innocent, had thoughts that were so corrupt. Especially how she basically admitted to have wet dreams for the _past week._ Still, he would be lying if he said he didn’t want to do it again.

“Umm… Ren-senpai?” Sumire barely squeaked. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. We don’t have to do it if you don’t want to,” She then looks down and mutters something, that Ren couldn’t hear well, but it sounded like she was berating herself.

“Sumi,” Ren starts off, trying to comfort Sumire, who’s starting to tear up a little at this point. “Look, I honestly want to do it as well. I was just a little surprised for a second, that’s all.”

Sumire looks back up. “Really?” Sumire asks quietly, but in a slightly hopeful tone. “Th—Thank you, Senpai.”

Ren just smiles and proceeds to kiss her, hard. She reciprocates, kissing Ren back as well. Ren slowly begins to move his hand up her cream-colored sweater and shirt, feeling her stomach. Eventually, he removes her sweater and shirt and puts it on the ground.

“Earlier I said that one day I want to take care of you as you do for me,” Sumire says. At this point, her skirt is pulled off by Ren and on the floor. “Let me take care of you right now.”

Ren gladly allows her to.

After a while, both Sumire and Ren are out of energy, lying on Ren’s bed, with Sumire on top of Ren. Both of them are glistening with sweat, which is dripping from their bodies. On the floor next to the bed are a messy pile of Ren’s and Sumire’s clothes, as well as a small latex object inside a plastic package next to the pile of clothes. Sumire opens her mouth to speak, but closes it, as she's too tired. She starts feeling drowsy and falls asleep, rolling over towards the right side of Ren. Ren, who’s just as tired as she is, falls asleep as well, with an arm around her body.

Sumire wakes up in the morning first. She tries to get up, but can’t, since Ren has been holding onto her throughout the night. She eventually manages to wiggle out of Ren’s clutches, which wakes Ren up.

“5 more minutes, Morgana…” Ren says in his sleep, until noticing that Sumire is the one next to him. “Oh, good morning, Sumi.”

“Good morning, Senpai,” Sumire says. Ren takes out his Shujin uniform and changes into it, while Sumire digs into her bag and pulls out her Shujin uniform.

“No nightwear, huh,” Ren observes after noticing that she only brought her Shujin uniform again. “You were really planning this again, weren’t you?” Sumire doesn't say anything and blushes. After they change, they head down the stairs together, seeing Sojiro in the kitchen making curry.

“Oh, hey kid,” Sojiro says. “How was White Day yesterday? Did everything go well?”

Ren is about to answer, but Sumire is quicker. “We had a wonderful time, Sakura-san. Everything was amazing.”

Sojiro smiles, glad his ultimate date plan went well. “It’s good to hear, little lady. Seems like your plan went really well, kid.”

“Thanks, Boss,” Ren says.

“Well, I’ll get more information about it later,” Sojiro says. “You have a train to catch after you eat.”

After Sojiro sets down two plates and cups, with a much larger portion for Sumire (Ren had told Sojiro about Sumire’s large appetite after Valentine’s Day), the couple begin to eat. Eventually, the plates and cups are empty, and Ren and Sumire thank Sojiro for the food and leave the cafe.

After the couple leave, Sojiro wipes his glasses. “Futaba and Yusuke are still at the house, I think.” Sojiro mutters to himself. “Well, hopefully she doesn’t make him late to school.”

Eventually, Ren and Sumire arrive at Shujin, holding hands. They notice Haru, who comes up to greet them.

“Oh! Ren-kun! Sumire-chan!” Haru greets. “Morgana is in my bag. I thought it would be best that I brought him to school.” She then takes Morgana out of her bag and hands him over to Ren.

“Thank you, Haru,” Ren says, holding onto Morgana before putting him into his bag. “I really appreciate you looking after Morgana for us.”

“It was my pleasure!” Haru says.

“Hey Ren, hey Sumire,” Morgana says. “How was your date last night?”

“It was great!” Sumire exclaims.

“Glad to hear it,” Morgana says, nodding. The bell rings. “Oh shoot, you guys are gonna be late to class!” Morgana warns, hiding in Ren’s bag.

The three students sprint towards their classrooms before they can be marked late by their teachers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this chapter!
> 
> Any criticism, whether positive or negative, will be appreciated. Also, if there are any grammatical, spelling, or technical errors, feel free to point them out in the comments so I can edit them.
> 
> Well, I kind of ran out of ideas for the NSFW stuff after the Valentine's Day chapter (and I kind of want to save some of them for my next fanfic), so I'm going to say that this is probably not the best chapter. I don't know, it just feels like there isn't a whole lot fluff/adorableness in this one. Hopefully the next chapter will be better. Also, speaking about the next chapter, it's probably going to contain smut in it (I'll make sure to put warnings in the chapter right before and after the explicit scenes. I really do want feedback before I write the last chapter, so if you have time, please comment about any suggestions/criticisms you may have (and plus they really make my day!). Maybe I might write the first chapter of my next fanfic in the meantime. I don't really know yet.
> 
> Anyways, once again, thank you for reading this chapter, and I hope to see you in the next one!


	8. Ren Leaves Tokyo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will cover March 19 and March 20 from Persona 5 Royal, where Ren leaves Tokyo to head back to his hometown. However, unlike the previous two chapters, this chapter contains **explicit** sexual content (there will be author notes before and after the smut so that way it makes it easier for people who don't want to read it to skip it). Since this is my first time (no pun intended) writing smut, please give feedback about the explicit scene in the comments and I hope you enjoy reading this chapter! I should probably change the rating to Explicit, but it's only for one chapter anyway and plus I like the orange color for Mature better. :P
> 
> Also, as always, I don't own Persona or any characters, obviously.

Only 5 days after Ren spent White Day with Sumire, he already had to pack up to head back to his hometown. He would have to leave everyone he loved and cherished behind, but he did have to move on with his life. As Ren walked down the stairs of Leblanc, he noticed that Sojiro and Futaba were there.

“Hey. You’re finally taking off tomorrow…” Sojiro says, with a small hint of disappointment in his tone.

“Sojiro said you don’t have to help out here today,” Futaba butts in.

Sojiro nods. “Go and see your friends before you leave.”

“Okay, thanks Boss,” Ren says.

“Mm. Off you go then,” Sojiro replies.

“Try not to cry,” Futaba warns. Ren can’t help but chuckle at that statement. He then turns to leave, but realizes he forgot to say goodbye to Sojiro and Futaba.

“Bye Sojiro, bye Futaba,” Ren says.

“Saying goodbye to me? Cut it out. You’re going to see me tomorrow. Just remember to pack once you get back, you hear?” Sojiro says, grinning. “We’re going to have to send your stuff separately, just like when you first got here, and I don’t want you leaving behind anything important here.”

“I already did, Boss. I have the stuff I need today and tomorrow already packed in a separate bag,” Ren confirms.

“I see you’re on top of things as always,” Sojiro remarks.

“Thanks, Boss,” Ren says, then reaches into his bag to get something. “Oh, Boss, you should keep this.”

Sojiro receives Ren’s probation diary. “The diary of the Phantom Thieves’ leader, huh? Probably going to be worth a lot someday… Thanks, though. I’ll keep it safe.”

“Thanks, Boss.”

“No problem. Well, it seems like we’ve been through a lot… but it seems like everything’s changed for the better. Try to behave yourself back home, would ya? Ah, not like you ever listen to me anyway…”

“Maybe I should actually assault someone over there so that way I could be sent back here for probation?”

“Kid, you know it doesn’t work like that. But I can tell you’re just joking. Oh yeah, you should probably take this,” Sojiro says, handing Ren over his recipe notes. “I want you to have these. I’ve got ’em memorized already. With that stuff, you can make the same… well, no, that’d be a waste. Put your own spin on the flavor. Develop it. Make it yours.”

“Thank you, Boss. I’ll experiment with it,” Ren says.

“C’mon. You should get going. Still got things to do, right?” Sojiro says with a smile.

“Let me at least say bye to Futaba first, Boss,” Ren says. He then walks over to where Futaba is at.

“Ren, good news! Kana-chan passed her high school entrance exam! She sent me a message this morning! I told her I was getting into high school too, and she says we can make our student debuts together! So, ya know that promise in the book? The one about going to school? This means, like… I did it, right?” Futaba says excitedly.

“Yep, I’m proud of you, Futaba,” Ren says. “Excellent job!”

“So, I’m awesome, right!? Can I get that in writing?” Futaba asks.

Ren chuckles. “Maybe not right now. I don’t have any paper on me anyways.”

“Well… alright,” Futaba says a little dejectedly. “Honestly, though… the idea of not having Sojiro or anyone else around is the scariest part. But—I know I can’t stay in my room forever. And that’s way more important.”

“Yep, that’s right,” Ren replies.

Futaba nods. “I feel like I’ve been getting more curious every day. I want to see and learn so much stuff… So I want you to have this. It’s proof that I’m moving on!” She then hands over her promise list. “Cause I only changed this much thanks to the notebook. And you, of course. If you ever feel lonely, just look at this notebook and remember that I’ve got your back. Okay?”

“Thanks, Futaba,” Ren says. “Though we could always video call, so hopefully I don’t need to look at this too often. Still, I’ll hold onto it. It’s a reminder of our… siblinghood together.”

“Yep! You’ll always be my big brother!” Futaba exclaims. “Still, you should get going now. You don’t want to miss out on getting all smoochy smoochy with Sumire, don’t you?”

Ren just rolls his eyes. “Like you don’t do that with Yusuke already. Heard you almost made him late to school on White Day? Cuddling together?”

Futaba looks shocked and is blushing. “W-Wait what?! H-How do you k-know about that?”

“Sojiro told me,” Ren says with a smirk. “Also, you need to do a better job at covering up your hickeys,” Ren suggests, pointing to the dark purple spot that was on Futaba’s shoulder, barely being covered by her jacket.

“E-Eep!” Futaba yelps. She then tries to cover it by pulling up her jacket slightly higher to cover it.

Ren can’t help but laugh. “I don’t know what you two did in your room, but as long as Yusuke was _gentle_ , I suppose Sojiro and me are fine with it. Right, Boss?”

Sojiro, who was too busy stirring the pot, barely hears Ren. “Sorry, kid, what was that?”

“Oh, nevermind,” Ren says with a smirk. Futaba is still red-faced and is pouting. Sojiro just shrugs and continues cooking in the kitchen.

“Alright, I’ll be heading out to say bye to the rest of my friends,” Ren says. “See you two later!” Sojiro and Futaba both wave.

After Ren says goodbye to all of his confidants (and some other people as well), he heads back to Leblanc. Ren’s bag is now full with the many gifts each of his confidants brought him, barely leaving enough space for Morgana. Starting to run out of air, Morgana suddenly pops out of Ren’s bag and takes a few deep breaths.

“Ah, fresh air! Have you said all of your goodbyes?” Morgana asks.

“Yep—” Ren starts but then suddenly remembers something. “Oh right, I haven’t seen Sumire at all today. I think that she’s probably still at practice. Hopefully she’ll call me when she gets out. I said goodbye to everyone else though.”

“Oh, ok,” Morgana says. “Hey, um… I actually have a present for you too, Ren.” He then gives Ren his scarf. “Even when I was human, I kept holding onto this for some reason. Between a cat, human, or some kind of vehicle… it’s been hard to say for sure who or what I am. But whatever else I am, I can say without a doubt… I’m your partner.”

“Thanks, Morgana,” Ren said. “For both the scarf and for you being my first ally in the Metaverse, well besides Ryuji, although he technically didn’t have a Persona then. I really appreciate it, _partner_.”

Morgana smiles. “Well then… we should probably go home and pack all of those gifts into the box, huh? I think it’s getting shipped today.”

As Ren enters Leblanc, Sojiro and Futaba are still there to greet him.

“Well, how did it go? Did it make you feel like you wanna stay?” Sojiro asks.

“Of course,” Ren said. “I have to move on, though. And besides, it’s not like I’m never coming back again or something.”

Sojiro smiles. “I see. You must’ve made a lot of good memories here. You’re leaving early tomorrow from Shibuya, right? Make sure you pack up before you head to sleep. Oh, and take that stupid cat with you. I don’t want it getting lost and ending up back here.”

“Don’t make fun of me! I can go wherever I want all by myself!” Morgana protests.

“It really never stops meowing, huh. Hey Futaba, can you translate for me?” Sojiro asks.

“He said, ‘Sojiro’s stupid,’” Futaba “translates.”

“What!?” Sojiro exclaims in disbelief.

Morgana looks betrayed. “Hey! What kind of translation is that!? Let me have a nice goodbye!”

Futaba laughs. “Mona’s your responsibility now. Leave Sojiro to me!”

Ren shakes his head. “Isn’t it the other way around?”

“That’s not true! I’ll take really good care of him!” Futaba protests.

“Oh man…” Sojiro says, shaking his head.

“Even if you’re not here, I’ll make sure to do my best. So… you go do your best too, Ren,” Futaba takes off her glasses and wipes her eyes. “Thank you… for everything…”

“I appreciate it, Futaba. Though you didn’t have to make it all emotional like that. You might be seeing me tomorrow morning too anyways,” Ren says. “Also, about your earlier comment, I don’t think you should be worrying about Sojiro.”

“Kid’s right,” Sojiro cuts off. Ren gives him an annoyed look. Sojiro gestures for him to continue.

“Anyways, back to what I was saying earlier,” Ren continues, flashing his Joker grin, “You should obviously be worrying more about your artist boyfriend, Yusuke! You know, make sure he actually eats and doesn’t starve to death.”

As expected, Futaba’s face grows bright red. “I-I’ll take really g-good care o-of him too! W-Wait n-not like that! I mean… ugh,” Futaba stammers, barely getting the words out. Ren and Sojiro both chuckle a little in response.

“Alright, well I have to start packing everyone’s gifts into the box that’s going to be shipped today,” Ren says, excusing himself, slowly heading up to the attic. “I’ll head down after a while.”

“Alright, kid,” Sojiro says. “Futaba will be staying here too.”

Ren heads up to start packing all of the gifts from his confidants into the massive box that’s going to be sent home, along with hiding some of his Phantom Thief supplies inside the box. Morgana just watches Ren pack and occasionally hands him some stuff as well. He also makes sure to set aside some clothes for pajamas, coming across an extra black nightwear shirt. Ren immediately thinks of Valentine’s Day, where she wore his shirt and looked so cute in it. Considering the possibility that she may want to stay over, he sets it aside along with his other pajamas, then heads back down to the cafe.

Meanwhile, Sumire has just gotten home from her gymnastics practice. As soon as she gets home, she immediately asks her parents if she can stay over at Ren’s again.

“So you want to stay over at his place again?” Shinichi asks. “Are there any romantic holidays that I’m forgetting?”

“Well… Ren-senpai is leaving for his hometown tomorrow…” Sumire replies. “So… I kind of wanted to spend some time with him.”

Sumire’s mother, Akane Yoshizawa, chuckles. “I see. Why not bring him over for dinner? You went to his place on Valentine’s Day and White Day, so why not bring him here for change?”

“Really?” Sumire’s voice perks up in excitement.

“I don’t see why not,” Shinichi chimes in. “Your mother and I have already considered inviting him over to our home for dinner after you left to go to his place for White Day. And he does seem to make you happy—”

“Of course Senpai does! He means the world to me!” Sumire interrupts in joy. “Oh, sorry, please continue.”

Both of Sumire’s parents laugh. “See, this is what we’re talking about. We’ve never seen you this excited before in a long time,” Shinichi says.

“He can stay over as well if you like. Don’t you have a call to make?” Akane points out. In a flash, Sumire whips out her phone and dials Ren’s number.

After Ren heads back down the stairs, he, Futaba, and Sojiro begin to chat about random topics. While they are talking, Ren suddenly gets a phone call. Upon noticing it’s from Sumire, he smiles and picks it up. Sojiro is smiling as well and Futaba is giggling.

Call Started

“Hey, Sumi, it’s Ren.”

“Senpai! I’m so sorry I couldn’t say goodbye to you earlier this morning.”

“It’s no big deal. It’s not like I’m not coming back to Tokyo or something. And plus, I’m proud that you’re continuing to pursue your dream, so it’s alright.”

“Thank you, Ren-senpai! However, I still need to say goodbye to you. So… um… do you want to stay over at my house for tonight? M-My parents are allowing it, of course.”

Ren nearly drops his phone in shock. “Sure, why not? When do you want me to head over there?”

Ren can hear Sumire talking with two other people in the background, who he assumes are her parents. Eventually Sumire comes back on the phone and says, “Whenever you can. Hopefully you’ll arrive in time for dinner.”

“Well, in that case, I’ll head over there as soon as possible. See you there, Sumi.”

“See you Senpai!”

Call Ended

“Well it seems you’re heading out somewhere today,” Sojiro notes. “Just make sure you bring everything you need, alright? Your box of stuff is heading out tonight.”

“Alright Boss, will do,” Ren replies.

“So… where are you going, Ren?” Futaba asks, in a slightly teasing manner.

“Oh I got invited to Sumire’s house for dinner. She’s allowing me to stay too, but I’ll stop by over here tomorrow morning to say goodbye again.”

Sojiro nods, while Futaba just laughs. Ren just rolls his eyes and heads back up to the attic to pack.

While packing the stuff necessary to stay over at Sumire’s house as well as the clothes for tomorrow, Ren notices the extra black nightwear shirt that he set aside earlier. At first, he considers not bringing it since there would be no need for her to wear his clothes. But then again, part of him realizes that Sumire has gotten a lot more… bolder over the past two dates (and part of him suspects that she didn't “forget” her clothes on White Day), so he figures he should bring it just in case she steals his clothes to wear or something. Luckily, Morgana doesn’t question him about it.

“Ren, are you going somewhere today?” Morgana asks. “I heard something downstairs about you going to Sumire’s house.”

“I got invited for dinner and I’ll probably be staying over as well,” Ren replies.

“Well, in that case, I won’t be following you, as a gentleman who knows his manners,” Morgana assures. “I’ll just be staying with Futaba then. Have a fun time, Ren!”

“Thanks, Morgana,” Ren says. Now being fully packed, Ren makes sure he hasn’t left anything behind and proceeds to leave Leblanc and head over to Sumire’s house.

Eventually, Ren arrives at Sumire’s house. He goes up the front stairs and rings the doorbell. He can hear footsteps rushing down the stairs and then the unlocking of the door. When it’s opened, he realizes it’s Sumire, with her hair down and wearing her glasses. She was also wearing the violet dress that she picked out during that clothing store in the Shibuya Underground Mall. Ren just stares at her, his mouth slightly open.

“Umm… Senpai? Is something wrong? Do I look weird?” Sumire asks.

Ren shakes his head. “Nope, it’s just that you look so gorgeous in that outfit.”

“Thanks, Senpai!” Sumire exclaims. Unfortunately for Ren, she doesn’t blush. “Oh yes, you should be coming inside now.”

Ren follows Sumire, who leads him to the dining room. There, Akane and Shinichi are waiting for him.

“Welcome,” Akane, the woman with long red hair, greets. “I’m Akane Yoshizawa.”

Ren introduces himself as well. “Oh, my name is Ren Amamiya, but you can call me Ren. Thank you for welcoming me into your home.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ren-kun,” Shinichi says. “My name is Shinichi Yoshizawa. Though I feel like we’ve met somewhere before, however, I can’t remember when. Maybe it’s deja vu?”

“I actually have the same feeling,” Ren said. He knows that Shinichi and Ren met during New Year’s Day. However, since reality was under Maruki’s influence during that time, they would’ve technically never have met before.

Akane gestures to a seat next to the table. “Have a seat, Ren. I’ll be bringing out the food shortly.”

“Thank you, Yoshizawa-san,” Ren says, sitting down at the table. Akane smiles and goes to get the food.

The food comes out and Akane puts out four plates of omurice for each of them. The one for Sumire is, of course, bigger than the rest of the three plates combined.

“Alright, let’s eat!” Shinichi says. “Itadakimasu!”

“Itadakimasu!” Ren, Sumire, and Akane exclaim. They start digging into the food.

As they eat, the four people talk about various topics.

“You know, Sumire helped make most of this,” Akane points out.

“Oh really? Thank you, Sumi, it tastes delicious,” Ren says.

“T-Thank you, Senpai,” Sumire stutters, her cheeks turning the slightest shade of pink.

“Oh yes, that reminds me,” Akane starts off, “Is there any reason as to why you call each other Senpai and Sumi? Don’t get me wrong, it’s adorable, but I was just curious.”

“Oh, they’re just kind of our pet names for each other, I guess,” Ren explains.

“Aww, that’s so sweet!” Akane exclaims, then looks over to Sumire. “She refers to you as Senpai so much that I started to think that that was your real name. She talks about you a lot, pretty much everyday, by the way.”

“Wh-What?!” Sumire exclaims, her cheeks starting to change towards a darker shade of pink. “I-I don’t talk about him _that_ much!”

“Your mother is correct,” Shinichi points out. “There hasn’t been a single time since you’ve first met where you _haven’t_ mentioned his name at the dinner table.”

“D-Dad! Not you too!” Sumire says. She can feel the blood starting to rush to her cheeks now.

“I kind of want to know what she says about me,” Ren says with a smirk. “Would any of you please fill me in on that?”

“Ren!” Sumire whines, her cheeks basically red now.

“Oh yes, I would love to fill you in!” Akane exclaims energetically. “You know, before you two went on your White Day date, she seemed pretty disappointed when Shinichi asked her if you were taking her on any dates. However, right when she saw you called, her face lit up! It was like she won the lottery or something! And then she literally sprinted to her room, shoved all of her stuff in a bag, and then left as soon as she said goodbye! You should have been there, Ren-kun!”

“ _MOM!_ ” Sumire whines. Ren just chuckles.

“Oh, and she left her nightwear in the process. She kept putting it in her bag and then taking it out,” Shinichi says, with much less enthusiasm compared to Akane. “And she obviously didn’t come back home that day, so I’m assuming she stayed over, correct?”

“Umm… yes, she did,” Ren replies, slowly starting to get nervous.

“I… borrowed some of Senpai’s clothes,” Sumire lies.

“You seemed hesitant in bringing your nightwear, Sumire,” Shinichi continues, then looks back at Ren. “Did you two do something that night?”

“No, of course not!” Ren quickly lies to defend himself. _Shit, does he already know? Crap, I’m so dead right now!_

“W-We didn’t do anything, Dad!” Sumire lies, her face still red. “After I borrowed some of his clothes, we just went off to sleep!”

Shinichi only hardens his glare, slightly scaring Ren. Suddenly, he and Akane start laughing.

“Oh, come on, I was just teasing,” Shinichi says to Ren and Sumire’s relief. “It was pretty funny seeing you two tense up like that though.”

Ren and Sumire sigh in relief. _At least he doesn’t know…_ Sumire thinks.

Unfortunately for them, Shinichi notices this. “It seems you two are quite relieved to hear that. Don’t tell me you’re actually hiding something from me, are you?”

“Absolutely not!” Ren lies again. Shinichi just chuckles again.

“Oh, I was just kidding again. I don’t think you two would’ve done anything,” Shinichi responds.

Ren and Sumire feel relieved. _I’m not sure if I’d be alive if he knew,_ Ren thinks to himself.

The two couples begin talking about various things, things about Ren, how they got to know each other, who confessed first, the kinds of dates they went on, and even teasing Sumire more about things she said or did related to Ren.

Eventually, night falls and Akane and Sumire bring the plates to the sink. Sumire washes the dishes while Akane cleans the table (Ren tried to help, but Akane insisted that he stay in his seat). Akane and Shinichi then head off to their own room, while Sumire leads Ren to her own room.

**Author’s Note:** **The explicit scene starts here. If you don’t want to read it, what I’d recommend doing is scrolling down until you see the next Author’s Note, which should be easy to spot (as it’s bolded as well).**

While Ren is brushing his teeth in Sumire’s bathroom, Sumire is thinking about something. _When should I tell Ren that I want to do it?_ Sumire asks herself.

“Do what?” Ren asks, stepping out of the bathroom.

“Eep!” Sumire screeches, shocked by the fact that Ren heard her (and that she was thinking out loud). “Umm… um…”

“Take your time,” Ren assures her.

Sumire takes a deep breath before speaking. “I-I want to do what we did on Valentine’s Day and White Day.”

Ren has a frown and rubs the back of his neck before speaking. “I’m not sure if it’s safe to do it here. I mean, your father already kind of suspects we’re doing things we’re not supposed to do, and I’d like to return to my hometown _alive_.”

“B-But it’s your last day here! Sh-Shouldn’t we do something special?” Sumire protests, her cheeks starting to redden a little. “A-And plus, my p-parents sleep early. Please?”

Ren doesn’t say anything for a while. To be honest, he wants it just as much as Sumire, but he’s still kind of afraid that her parents might walk in. However, Sumire does have a point, it is his last day here (and it’d probably be a good memory as well). He looks at Sumire and can see a mixture between disappointment and lust in her eyes.

 _Well, ladies first,_ Ren thinks to himself. He then grins and then closes and locks Sumire’s bedroom door. When Ren looks back at Sumire, he swears that for a split second she no longer had a look of disappointment, but rather one of excitement.

“How long have you been planning this, exactly?” Ren teases, before gently and slowly pushing her down on the bed. He then takes off both of their glasses and puts them on a table near Sumire’s bed before continuing. “Was it right after White Day? You did say that you were thinking about it for a _whole week_ that time.”

Sumire goes back to her flustered self. “I-I u-umm… s-since last night?”

Ren chuckles slightly. He then begins to undo the buttons of her dress in quick succession, with Sumire gasping after each button is undone.

“Since last night, huh,” Ren says to himself. He then pulls the dress carefully off of Sumire, with Sumire raising her hips to help Ren take it off, leaving her exposed with only her usual violet bra and panties and gray thigh-high socks on. Ren folds the dress, putting it gently on the floor. He then begins to consider whether or not to take off her socks, but then decides to leave them on, only rolling them down right above her knees. It reminds him of her thief outfit, and the one time where she caught him staring at her thighs, resulting in her face going so red it could’ve probably melted her mask off (which almost resulted in him getting slapped afterwards, but it was kind of worth it seeing her embarrassed like that).

Ren begins to fumble around with her bra strap, something he still struggles to get off ever since their first time on Valentine’s Day. Luckily, Sumire helps him, and that goes off as well, tossed to the ground like usual. Even though Sumire’s breasts are exposed, Ren resists the urge to look at them, instead grabbing at Sumire’s panties.

“You seem _really_ excited for this, Sumi,” Ren comments, with a grin on his face. “Seems like you’re even more wet than you were on Valentine’s Day and White Day _combined_.”

“ _Hngh…_ Stop teasing me, Senpai…” Sumire whines, beginning to blush and trying to hide her face with her hands. Ren just smiles and takes off her panties, joining the rest of her clothes on the ground as well.

He then looks at Sumire, towering over her. He slowly goes down and starts leaving hickeys in the area around her chest. He grabs her right breast and places two hickeys there, causing a slight moan from Sumire.

“Senpai…”

“We’re not finished yet, Sumi,” Ren points out. He then begins to rub her hard nipple with his thumb and squeezes her right breast. Eventually, he gives it a hard suck, resulting in Sumire temporarily spasming in pleasure. After nibbling all over her breast, he then moves on to the left one, leaving a hickey on each side of it. He begins licking around Sumire’s left breast, nibbling whenever he feels like it. He squeezes her right breast as well, causing Sumire to moan again. He can begin to hear her breathing and heart beat slowly pick up speed, able to hear each _ba-_ _thump_ coming from her chest as he continues to pleasure her. Eventually, he begins to slowly move down her body. 

After leaving kisses down her chest, he then leaves a hickey on her stomach, causing a mix between a moan and a ticklish giggle from Sumire, before heading down to her pelvis area, brushing the small tuft of red hair near her entrance. He gets on his knees, still outside the bed, and leaves kisses on the insides of both of her thighs, which causes Sumire to moan. Ren is careful not to leave any hickeys on her thighs, since she has gymnastics practice the next day and he doesn’t want Sumire to die from embarrassment. He does this for a while, deliberately teasing her. Sumire begins to get impatient.

“Senpai… Please stop teasing me…” Sumire says, but it sounds more like a warning than a plea.

“We’ll get there eventually,” Ren assures, before leaving another kiss on her right thigh.

Sumire has enough. She then grabs Ren’s head away from her thighs and puts it right on her entrance. Ren is quite shocked by this, but he decides to fulfill her request. He puts one finger inside, resulting in a moan from Sumire. After a while, he puts two fingers inside Sumire, beginning to push them in and out. He then uses his remaining hand to squeeze her left breast.

“Senpai…” Sumire moans in pleasure.

Ren just grins and adds a third finger in, before starting to lick around her entrance. It seems to work as intended, as he can now feel Sumire start to spasm a little.

Sumire can feel her heart race and her breathing pick up, occasionally spasming here and there. Eventually, Ren’s fingers pushing and tongue licking into her entrance as well as Ren’s right hand on her breast is too much pleasure for Sumire to handle.

“Senpai, I-I’m—” Sumire begins, but it’s too late. She orgasms on Ren’s hand and mouth, with her fluids spilling out of her entrance. Her thighs begin to press against Ren’s head, trapping him. After she opens her legs slightly to free Ren, he licks some of the sweet fluid spilling out of her, pulling his wet fingers out of her. Sumire is still breathing heavily, and for a second it looks like she just had an asthma attack. Ren leans down, cups her warm, blushed cheeks, and kisses her deeply, with their tongues rolling around each other. They then break away, with the two lovers looking into each other's eyes.

“Senpai… no, Ren, that was…” Sumire starts off, trying to find the right words to describe her experience. “…Perfect,” she settles on. Sumire then frowns. “…But you’re still clothed.”

“Oh…” Ren says. “You do have a point there.”

“Let me take it off,” Sumire requests, sitting up. She then takes off his shirt, with Ren raising his arms to help her remove it. She sets it on the floor with the rest of her clothes. Sumire then undos the button on Ren’s pants, before slowly pulling it down to the floor, putting the pants as well as his socks on the pile of their clothes. Ren’s only in his boxers now, with his abs from his Phantom Thief days, and his erection trying to break free from his boxers. Sumire begins nervously pulling the boxers down slowly, until Ren’s manhood pops out. She then quickly pulls the boxers off of Ren, with it being the last clothing item that joins the pile next to the bed. Sumire’s face is red and she tries to hide her face with her fingers upon seeing Ren nude, despite it not being her first time seeing him like that.

Ren, on the other hand, laughs a little, seeing that she’s still nervous even though this is their third time doing it together. He then realizes something important.

“Umm… Sumi?” Ren asks, feeling a little awkward about asking this question. “Do we have… um… protection?” Ren feels bad about ruining the mood, but then again, he doesn’t want to get her pregnant.

“Oh… um…” Sumire starts off softly, blushing. “I… I wanted to do something different today, you know, with it being your last day and all… S-So I started taking the p-pill since l-last week s-so you could um… finish inside m-me this time.” Sumire then covers her face with her hands from embarrassment.

Ren can’t help but feel his heart melt from how adorable Sumire’s acting. He grins and begins to peel Sumire’s hands off of her face, forcing her to see him.

Ren then kisses her again. When he breaks away, he whispers in her ear, “I appreciate the surprise, Sumi. Though I am a little disappointed that you lied to me when you said that you only started planning _last night_.”

Sumire is still blushing and has an embarrassed yet adorable pout. She then lies down and spreads her legs open. Ren gets on the bed and begins aligning his erection towards Sumire’s entrance. He pushes his erection into her, and Sumire moans. After her previous orgasm, her entrance is still covered in her juices, so he finds it much easier for him to push his erection into her. Ren grabs onto Sumire’s left hip with his right hand and her breast with his other one, squeezing it, causing Sumire to let out a gasp. 

Ren pulls out (not all the way) before slamming his erection back into Sumire. He bends over and begins chewing on her other breast, eliciting a moan from his red-haired kouhai. Ren continues his quick thrusts inside of her, almost in rhythm, while his mouth and his hand play with her breasts. He can feel Sumire start to spasm occasionally and her breathing picks up speed once again. He suddenly feels Sumire’s hands slowly beginning to gently scrape the skin on his back, holding onto him as if for dear life. Ren begins to notice that he’s losing control, his thrusts no longer having a pattern but rather random. He knows what’s about to come, and tries to warn Sumire about it.

“Sumi, I’m… I think I’m com—” Ren starts off, pulling his mouth off of her breast, but he’s cut off by Sumire, who understands what he's trying to say.

“R-Ren!” is all Sumire can say before they both climax together, with Ren’s semen and Sumire’s juices mixing together inside of Sumire, before slowly starting to drip out of her entrance and onto the bed. Ren pulls out his now flaccid manhood out of Sumire.

Their sweat-covered and exhausted bodies collide with each other as Ren falls on the bed, wrapping his arms around Sumire, who’s hair is now messy and spread out everywhere. After trying to catch their breath, Ren turns toward his girlfriend and is the first one to speak up.

“Sumire… That… That was amazing,” Ren compliments.

Sumire manages to let out an exhausted giggle. “Th-Thank you, Senpai. I-I would a-ask you to go… a-again l-like White Day, b-but I’m too tired right now.”

Ren chuckles, then pulls the blankets which have been left to the side and places it on top of them, covering their bodies. He then continues cuddling with Sumire.

“Me too, Sumi,” Ren says, managing to keep his breathing steady. “I’m just exhausted after that. Probably because it was just that good.” Ren then frowns as he realizes something.

“What is it?” Sumire asks, noticing the frown on his face. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, of course not,” Ren reassures. “It’s about the sheets, they’re dirty after our… activities tonight.”

“Oh. I can wash those tomorrow morning,” Sumire assures.

“Oh, ok. Sorry about that,” Ren apologizes.

“It’s alright, Senpai, you shouldn’t be apologizing,” Sumire reassures, “Besides, you had to wash the sheets the previous two times.”

“Fair enough,” Ren says, then yawns. “Oh, I’m getting really sleepy now. Goodnight Sumire, I love you.”

“Goodnight Ren,” Sumire replies, yawning as well. “I love you too.”

Ren turns off the lights and the couple both drift off to sleep, cuddling together under the blankets.

The next morning, Ren is the first one to awake. He gets out of bed and checks the time, noticing that he has to get ready. He changes into the nightwear he packed and walks out of the bedroom door. Ren notices a note on the bedroom door.

_Sumire,_

_Just wanted to let you know that I had to go out to get groceries and that your dad is at work right now. Let him know that if he wants to fix anything for breakfast, he can use any food we have. And if it’s not too much trouble, tell Ren that we’re sorry that we couldn’t say goodbye to him right before he leaves and that he’s welcome to come back to our house if he comes back to Tokyo again. ;)_

_-Mom_

Ren smiles after reading the note and takes it, heading into the bedroom again. There, he notices that Sumire is wearing his nightwear shirt, while preparing to wash the bed sheets. Her gray socks from the previous night were on the floor. His mouth falls slightly open for a while before closing it to form a smile.

Sumire notices his presence and says, “Oh, good morning Senpai!”

“Good morning, Sumi,” Ren replies. He then chuckles a little.

Sumire raises an eyebrow in confusion. “What’s funny?”

“Nothing,” Ren replies. “It’s just that you’re wearing my shirt again. Just like Valentine’s Day. Even though you have your own nightwear. You look cute, by the way.”

“Wh-What?” Sumire responds, with an evident blush on her face. “I-I-just-found-it-lying-around-and-I-wanted-to-wear-it!” Sumire says quickly, in an attempt to defend herself.

“Relax, Sumi, I’m not going to punish you or something for doing that,” Ren assures, but then he smirks. “But, something’s been telling me that you left your nightwear on purpose on White Day.”

“ _Senpai!_ ” Sumire whines, and Ren just chuckles at his embarrassed kouhai.

Sumire puts the sheets in the washing machine and Ren gives her the note, informing her of her parent’s absence. Sumire tries to apologize to him since her parents aren’t here, but Ren stops her, saying that he understands that they have more important things to take care of.

Ren is about to head into Sumire’s bathroom to take a shower. However, Sumire stops him.

“Umm… what are you doing, Senpai?” Sumire asks. However, she looks embarrassed and is blushing.

“Oh, I’m just taking a shower,” Ren responds, confused as to why Sumire’s so embarrassed. “Is there something wrong?”

“Umm… no…” Sumire starts off. “I… I was j-just wondering if w-we could, like sh-shower to-together?” Sumire stutters, before hiding her face with her hands. “I’m sorry!” Sumire apologizes immediately afterwards. “That was probably a weird thing for me to ask, Senpai!”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Ren says, before chuckling again at his girlfriend’s cute behavior. “And plus,” Ren leans into Sumire’s ear before whispering, “I can clean up the mess I made last night.”

Sumire blushes heavily. “ _Senpai!_ ” she whines. Ren just leads her into the bathroom, where they strip and enter the shower, with Sumire heading in first.

Inside the shower, Ren and Sumire wash each other up, scrubbing each other’s bodies. Occasionally, Ren can’t help but tease Sumire by putting a couple of fingers into her entrance, which makes a gasp and moan a little, but then she protests out of embarrassment, causing him to stop.

After both of them are clean, they step out of the shower and dry themselves off with a towel. They help each other dry each other’s backs and then they put on clothes. Ren puts on his nightwear again while Sumire still wears Ren’s shirt.

**Author’s Note:** **The explicit scene ends here. It’s safe to start reading now. :)**

After their shower together, Ren and Sumire eat a light breakfast (the food was made by Sumire while Ren made the coffee), they clean up (with Sumire cleaning the table while Ren washes the dishes). After changing into clothes that are more suitable for the outdoors, the couple start to head outside. However, before they leave, Sumire stops him.  
“Oh, umm… Senpai? I want you to have this,” Sumire starts. She then hands him a green checkered ribbon, which is the one she occasionally wore.

Ren raises an eyebrow. “I don’t have long hair, Sumi.”

“It’s not for that, obviously,” Sumire starts off. “I just want you to keep it, as a reminder of what we’ve gone through together. And… for something to remember me by when you go back to your hometown.”

Ren accepts the gift, looking at it for a while before putting it in one of the many pockets in his bag. “Thank you, Sumi. But I don’t think I’ll be forgetting you any time soon. And plus, we can always video call or something like that. And if you somehow manage to have a competition in my hometown, I can obviously see you in person! I might be able to come back to Tokyo, who knows?”

“Yes… but still, it’s not the same as you being there next to my side,” Sumire points out. She then hugs him tightly. “I-I don’t know if I’ll be able to last that long without you…”

“You will, Sumi. I know you’re strong enough to do it.” Ren reassures. 

“Thanks, Senpai!” Sumire exclaims.

Ren then smirks. “And plus, when you finally achieve your dream in gymnastics, maybe we could settle down and you _could take care of me_ , like what you said on White Day.”

Sumire blushes instantly. “Oh… um… I’d like that as well,” Sumire says. “But… shouldn’t we get going to the train station, now? I have to catch a train anyway to go to practice.”

“Actually, can we stop by Leblanc first? I want to say goodbye to Boss and Futaba again.”

“Sure!”

The couple arrive at Leblanc and enter the door. Sojiro notices them and greets them.

“Well if it isn’t the kid and his red-head girlfriend,” Sojiro greets. “Coming again to say goodbye to me?”

“Yeah,” Ren says, setting his bag down on one of the seats.

“You got everything?" Sojiro asks.

Ren nods his head in confirmation.

“When I took you in, I thought I was the one helping you… but it turns out it was the other way around. Take care.”

“You too. Thanks for everything, Boss.”

“No problem, kid. Oh, and sorry… I wanted to have Futaba see you off too… I haven’t been able to find her since this morning, though. Same with that cat.”

Unbeknownst to the three people in the cafe, Morgana sneaks in through the door from Leblanc and opens the zipper in Ren’s bag. He then hides in it and closes it.

“Oh, well, that’s alright,” Ren replies. “I’m sure they’re all busy today anyways.”

“If you end up back in the city, come on by. I’ll at least treat you to a nice cup of coffee.” Sojiro then realizes something. “…Wait, that means I can’t go closing the store, huh.”

“Yep,” Ren replies. “But don’t worry, Boss. I’ll be back in Tokyo soon.”

Sojiro nods. “Of course you’ll be back. Can’t keep your lady waiting, kid.” Sojiro then gestures to Sumire, who just smiles at Ren before giggling a little. “What are you doing? Hurry up and go. You two lovebirds have a train to catch.”

“Thanks for everything, Boss,” Ren says.

“…Yeah,” Sojiro replies.

After Sumire and Ren say goodbye once more to Sojiro, Sojiro takes out his phone and looks at it. He then takes off his glasses and then proceeds to wipe his eyes, before looking at the Leblanc front door.

Sumire and Ren are heading down the streets of Tokyo towards the train station. However, they notice their friends in a blue-gray van waving to them.

“Yo! You over there!” Ryuji shouts.

“Hey, look this way!” Ann exclaims, trying to get the couple’s attention.

Ren and Sumire walk towards the van. Sumire then goes inside.

“After we said we’d disband,” Yusuke starts.

“We are on break, after all,” Haru points out.

“No more entrance exams. I can drive you all to the station,” Makoto offers.

“You really, really gotta go?” Futaba asks.

Ren just nods. Ann suddenly turns the mirror in the van and notices a black car that was following them the whole time, most likely past conspirators with Shido.

“Shit,” Ryuji says.

“They even followed us here?” Yusuke asks in disbelief.

“What should we do?” Sumire asks.

“Need a hand?” a voice calls out. The thieves turn and notice it’s Maruki, who’s driving a taxi.

“Dr. Maruki!?” Ryuji shouts, not believing what he's seeing. Maruki simply nods and then opens the passenger door.

“You’re suggesting we split up?” Makoto asks. Maruki just shrugs.

“Should we?” Futaba asks.

There’s a pause. Then, Ryuji gives a thumbs up to Maruki, signalling that they agree with his plan. Ren nods and heads into the taxi, closing the door. The thieves in the other van shut the door and sped off, causing the stalkers in the black car to chase after them.

“Here we go!” Futaba shouts.

“Bye!” Sumire says.

“Come and get us!” Ryuji taunts the officials in the black car, who immediately chase them.

“Shall we, then?” Maruki asks Ren.

“Yep,” Ren replies.

After Maruki and Ren arrive at the train station, Ren immediately begins digging into his pockets for money.

“There’s no charge,” Maruki says. He then pauses for a while before continuing. “If you find yourself struggling in life… you can start over, like me. Remember that. So yeah, if that ends up saving you, then we’re square.”

“Thanks, Maruki,” Ren says. “I’ll miss you and your snacks, though.”

Maruki just chuckles. “Well, if you ever come back to Tokyo, give me a call. I’ll make sure to bring some snacks with me as well when we meet up.”

“I’ll make sure to do that,” Ren assures. He and Maruki then fist-bump before Ren leaves the taxi.

“Good luck,” Maruki says, before closing the car window and leaving. Immediately afterward, the van with all the thieves inside pulls up in front of Ren.

“Damn, man… Those dudes just wouldn’t give up!” Ryuji exclaims.

“Wish it went smoother, but I guess this is it!” Futaba says.

“Be sure to eat well,” Yusuke says.

“We’ll see you. Soon, right?” Haru asks.

“If you don’t come back, we’ll find you there,” Ann says.

Sumire exits the vehicle and hugs Ren, who reciprocates the hug. The other thieves just smile at the couple. The two then break away.

“Alright guys, it’s time,” Makoto points out.

“Aww man, we have to leave already?” Ryuji asks in disappointment.

“We don’t make the train schedule,” Ann points out.

The van starts leaving. However, Ryuji leaves the van door open and Futaba opens the door on the top of the van.

“See ya later my duuuuuuude!” Ryuji shouts, while waving.

“I’ll text you, okaaaay?” Futaba asks, while waving as well.

“Come on, sit down!” Makoto orders. As the van makes a turn, the stalkers in the black car notice as well and begin chasing after them.

“Hopefully they don’t get in a car crash,” Sumire says.

“Yep,” Ren says. “Let’s get going.”

As Sumire and Ren are walking down the station, Ren’s bag begins to move, which causes Ren to bump into Sumire. Morgana then pops his head out.

“Ahh! Toldja I was coming with you!” Morgana says.

“How did you get in my bag?” Ren questions.

Morgana just shrugs. “Never underestimate the original Phantom Thief!”

Suddenly a new train arrives at the station.

“Oh, that’s my train, Senpai,” Sumire says. “Take care.” She then gives him a kiss on the cheek.

Ren kisses her back and then says, “Goodbye, Sumi! Good luck at practice today!”

Sumire just bows and nods. They then wave goodbye to each other as Ren and Sumire go on their own separate trains.

On Ren’s train, Ren is sitting in his chair, while Morgana is lying comfortably in Ren’s bag. He then looks outside for a moment, but then gets a notification. He looks at his phone and notices it’s from Sumire.

“Call me when you get there!” Sumire’s text says.

Ren begins typing out an “I’ll make sure,” but then notices three people walking by the train. The first two people he doesn’t know, but the last one looks _oddly familiar_ to him.

The first thing Ren does is try to look at the last person’s right hand. Unfortunately, he can’t see the hand nor the person’s face as the sunlight is blocking his vision.

 _Was… was that Akechi?_ Ren thinks to himself. _Or was that just my eyes playing tricks on me?_

Ren finishes typing out his text and sends it. The train starts moving, and as Ren looks out the window, he no longer sees his reflection; instead, he sees himself in his Joker costume. Ren takes off his glasses and looks up to the sky, before closing the window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this chapter!
> 
> Any criticism, whether positive or negative, will be appreciated. Also, if there are any grammatical, spelling, or technical errors, feel free to point them out in the comments so I can edit them. If you have any questions (whether related to the story or otherwise), don't be afraid to comment it, so I can do my best to answer them.
> 
> First of all, thank you all for being patient. I know this fanfic hasn't been updated for about a week, so I apologize for that.
> 
> I know I skipped over basically everyone's goodbyes, but as I was writing them I was starting to notice that it was taking too long (and plus, it would've been the same as the one's in game anyways, so there kind of would have been no point in doing it). On a similar note, I know that this chapter has a lot more original stuff added into it than the P5R ending scene (hopefully it's not too different), but the P5R ending gave me mixed feelings. Maybe it's because I wanted to see more Sumire (it's still sad that she doesn't give you a gift on March 19 and she's not on the van with the other thieves). But then again, the tone of the ending sounded more like a "see you later" than a more long-lasting "goodbye," so maybe Atlus might be doing more P5 spinoffs with P5R characters in them? I also had Ren stay over at Sumire's because I just liked the idea, especially how for the previous 2 dates she stayed over at Leblanc. Also, I just named Sumire's mom Akane because 1). somehow I referred to her as Sumire's mom the whole time and I had to make her introduce herself to Ren and 2). I have no idea how to name characters and it seems that most people are going with Akane for her name so I just chose that as well. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Also, I know I said this earlier, but please put feedback in the comments. It's really appreciated and it helps me figure out what I did right/wrong during the smut (it's still a new experience for me so I want to get as much criticism as possible). I tried to keep it as short, wholesome, and vanilla as possible (don't want to go into the weird dirty stuff yet), so hopefully that's shown in the chapter. And if it was decent enough to satisfy most people, I might consider writing more of it in the next fanfic (maybe more dirty? Idk yet ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯). Otherwise, I'll probably just make it heavily implied and not much more than that.  
> And also I want to ~~give a shoutout to~~ sacrifice Herowrath3 because I had to reference his work, A Parting Gift, quite a lot when writing this fanfic. Hopefully it's not too similar, but I definitely tried to keep it as original as possible.
> 
> Finally, I really appreciate everyone who has been reading Violet Royale. Whether you were here from the very beginning, came in during the middle, or are just starting to read this story now, I can't express how much joy I have felt after seeing every hit, kudos, bookmark, subscription, comment, or whatever else I forgot to put here on this fanfic. I'm really thankful for this community and the positivity that has been shown here. So, once again, thank you everyone!
> 
> As for what's coming up next, do not worry, I'll definitely be writing more Shusumi fanfics, hopefully. And for DesperateYutabaFan131, do not worry, I haven't forgotten your request. The White Day version for Yusuke x Futaba is in the works (and will be posted as a separate fanfic, might be implied or explicit depending on what the public thinks).
> 
> I want to ~~shoutout~~ sacrifice a couple of fics I like because why not.  
> Renegade: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24782095/chapters/59926366  
> Phantom Future: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24188326/chapters/58260898  
> Recollections of Your Heart: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23855620/chapters/57335611  
> Retribution of the Trickster: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24405181/chapters/58872412  
> The Wish For Control: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24510076/chapters/59167783  
> Lotus, Violet, and Cherry Blossoms: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24211450/chapters/58325074  
> A Surprise Summer Date: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24321934/chapters/58637050  
> A Parting Gift: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24615277  
> The Future of Royal: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23806528/chapters/57196321  
> Yoshizawa Sumire wants affection: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24790153  
> Wistful Dreams: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24296992/chapters/58568461  
> Unyielding Faith: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24763723/chapters/59875639  
> There are a lot of other fics I want to list as well, but I'm at the max # of characters for notes so I apologize if your fic isn't on here. I'll list more fics in the next ShuSumi fic.
> 
> Anyways, once again, thank you for reading this chapter, and I hope to see you in the next ShuSumi fanfic (which should hopefully be coming out pretty soon)!


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